Flower Girl
by chronicxxinsanity
Summary: Gai challenges Kakashi: whichever one of them can guess the name of the girl at the flower shop, gets to go on a date with her. No one knew what that one little challenge would uncover - surely not an illegal runaway in the form of a shy girl.
1. Again

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of Kishimoto's characters. I do, however, own the few original characters you will find here. This will only be stated in the first chapter, because I don't want to copy and paste it to the beginning of each and every chapter, but it will apply to the entire story.

_Author's Note: I had written this story a long time ago, and when I went through it all I hated it. The way I wrote, the character I create...I didn't like any of it. So I'm rewriting the entire thing. I've deleted all the old chapters because I don't want people to get confused. The beginning will the be same and the general idea will be the same, but several scenes and characters will be altered for a fresh start. This first chapter won't contain Kakashi or any other Naruto characters, for that matter. Why, you may ask? Because I want to give my character more attention than she got in the previous version, by actually giving her a good introduction and letting you guys get to know her._

_For everyone's information, this story is based on my original character, Hana Inoue. Not Kakashi. That being said, expect this to follow Hana and her story, even when it mingles with the fabulous creation of Kishimoto's that we call Kakashi Hatake. I love his character, but the main character here is Hana._

_I hope everyone enjoys the new version, and let me know how you like it (or hate it). I'm also looking for any and all constructive criticism, since I always want to know what I need to work on. Enjoy!_

* * *

_**Flower Girl**_

_Again_

* * *

The picnic basket felt light in her small hands, as opposed to how heavy it was when the two set out for the fields earlier that morning. Then, it had been full of bread, cheeses, and Hana's favorite, oranges. Back home, oranges were hard to come by. But in the warmer, wetter climate, the trees that bore the fruit seemed to thrive. And they were cheaper, too, which meant that even though Hana and her grandmother were currently living on a budget, they could afford to have their fruit bowl on the small kitchen counter full of the juicy fruit.

The day had been perfect so far, starting with a warm breeze waking Hana up. School had been canceled due to the Springtime Harvest Festival, in which the small town Gonohe celebrated the spring with large stands of food, craft tables to weave baskets or paint small pictures with nothing more than paint, a piece of paper, and fingers, and a small fireworks show when the sun went down. Since Hana didn't care too much for crowds or the loud noises of the fireworks – that being a small understatement – Granny Lee had suggested that they go to the large fields for a picnic.

The two had dressed in clothes that were easy enough to train in, but not suspicious enough to warrant any attention. Granny Lee had worn her regular light blue blouse and skirt, knowing that she would be doing a majority of the knife throwing and offensive attacks. But she had instructed Hana to wear some older clothes, where the grass stains wouldn't be so noticeable and any tears wouldn't require a trip to the clothing store. At Hana's insistence, though, Granny Lee had bought some new bandages so that Hana could continue her new fashion statement – wrapping her arms from her shoulders to her wrists – in the soft fabric.

With one glance, a passing person wouldn't question a young girl wearing bandages, especially at an age where children often sought their own style, but after a few more glances, someone might wonder why the small girl refused to leave her arms uncovered.

The clothes that Hana was currently wearing were old and worn down, and Granny Lee would be yelled at if she mentioned that the flecks of dirt made her freckles more noticeable even though it was true. Granny Lee could easily guess that Hana was hiding her excitement to get home and change into some fresh clothes and try on her new tan colored bandages, if the bouncing steps in her stride were anything to go by.

The open fields of Gonohe were perfect for their plans, and while they were indeed going out into the wilderness for a nice picnic as their basket suggested, they had more on their minds. Specifically, Hana's training.

"Your kicks need to be a little higher," Granny Lee said, her tone taking on that of a teacher lecturing a child. "A hit to the diaphragm will be more effective than the lower abdomen. Even if you can't quite reach it yet," she added the familiar jab that would often rile the quiet girl up. Her grandmother flattened out her bright blue blouse to pat the upper part of her abdomen, where her diaphragm was.

The empty picnic basket was beginning to feel heavy. Or maybe it was the fact that a perfectly fine training session was being broken down into what she did wrong that made her shoulders sag. Either way, her grandmother seemed to notice her lowered gaze and slouching posture. She didn't even yell in outrage at being called short, which she undeniably was.

"But you're improving a lot," Granny Lee added, sighing when Hana didn't seem to perk up at all.

Instead, the small girl let out a short breath that could have been a small laugh, and blew a few strands of red hair off of her small, unusually freckled nose. "A lot for the amount of training we're doing."

"We can't chance any more than what we're doing now. You know that," she added in a sterner, but not angry tone, trying to push the seriousness of their situation onto her granddaughters small shoulders.

She didn't necessarily want her to worry in the same was that she, herself, constantly had been for the past few years. But she would rather see her granddaughter ready and prepared for anything that was ahead of her, instead of being taken by surprise and lead like a lamb to the slaughter. It hadn't been her initial job to watch over the girl and train her, but in a single moment, the responsibility of a young life was pushed into her hands, and the only thing she could do was get her granddaughter ready for what she would have to soon face.

The small girl, at the mere age of twelve, had experienced more anxiety and worry than the adults in Gonohe have in their entire lives, and the guilt that she was adding more onto the young girls plate weighed down on her more so than usual when she noticed the way that Hana's shoulders fell a fraction of an inch more.

"I know. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for you help. I just get antsy sometimes." Hana sighed and finally looked up from the dirt path they were walking on to see the speckle of clouds across the otherwise bright blue sky. "I hate waiting around when something could happen. I want to be ready." Her voice was a little firmer and her dark blue eyes, normally so soft and curious, hardened in determination - something her grandmother had only witnessed a handful of times before.

"You are ready." Hana sent her a look that said she was not impressed with the blatant lie. Okay, so the twelve year old wasn't ready to deal with the obvious problem in her life, but she was getting there. "I don't think I'll ever be able to teach you like your old sensei, though." The topic was breached with carefully chosen words, and Granny Lee watched Hana for any signs that she should stop talking. "You're a very defensive fighter by nature, and I am something of an offensive one."

The light, child-like laugh that followed made Granny Lee relax a tiny bit, enjoying the sound that she didn't hear nearly as much as she wished.

"'Something of'?" Hana asked in mock exasperation. "I don't think I'll ever have a problem dodging weapons ever again after the training you've put me though."

In her light hearted mood, Hana's voice had risen higher. Granny Lee paused to glance around the tall grasses and sparse trees that surrounded the dirt path, sure that she would find someone spying on their conversation, or just hearing it by chance. Either way, it wouldn't end well.

She forced her expression to relax, even if she didn't completely feel it herself, when she confirmed that no one was hiding behind a tree or in the tall grass. She turned back to see Hana's face red in embarrassment, almost matching her bright red hair in shade.

The two continued down the path, Hana's gaze on the ground again as her face returned to it's paler color.

Hesitantly, making sure that her voice was low enough so that only Granny Lee would be able to hear it, Hana continued. "Do you think it'll happen again, though? Like before?"

"I don't know. I would like to think that we could stay here a little longer." It hurt to not be able to promise a long stay in the nice village, but that promise could very easily be broken in a matter of seconds, and it wasn't as if Hana didn't know the truth. "But there's no predicting what that boy will do."

"No, I guess there isn't."

They made a silent agreement to walk back home in silence, enjoying the warm weather, sunshine, and the light breeze that blew through the grass and made the fields look like they were rippling like giant lakes. The path wasn't too long, but Hana's short legs and Granny Lee's general preference for taking a slow pace meant that they made their way down the road at a leisurely pace.

The first few signs that they were entering Gonohe were the few farm houses on either side of the road, often surrounded by fields of flowers and vegetables. When they passed by, Hana's curious gaze left the road under her feet to admire the large houses, some more well kept than others, and the various gardens that surrounded them.

Soon, the houses stood closer together, and the garden beds were forced to be smaller or nonexistent as they walked through the main street of Gonohe.

The heavy footsteps were the first sign that something was a little off. The entire town was currently on the east side of the village, eating the freshly picked fruit, watching smaller children finger paint, or preparing for the fireworks show that would take place later on in the Springtime Harvest Festival. The footsteps fell in unison, but Granny Lee, with her trained ear, counted four men before they rounded a corner and turned towards the two.

Granny Lee knew her granddaughter enough to know that Hana was tense, eyes wide and transfixed on the Iwagakure ninja with their stoic and determined expressions, marching their way. Gonohe was a somewhat isolated village with a miniscule crime rate, so the presence of ninja was sometimes to be wary about.

Taking a step forward, Granny Lee caught the sleeve of one of the shorter ninja, a man with short cropped brown hair.

"Yes?" He turned to look at what appeared to be a helpless aging woman and her terrified granddaughter, and his hardened expression softened just a bit. "Can I help you?"

"May I ask what brings you to Gonohe?" If Hana wasn't staring in utter shock at the ninja and trying to discreetly look around the buildings that lined the street, she would have rolled her eyes at her grandmothers tone. When she wanted to, it was only too easy to take on the roll of a helpless, elderly woman who needed a little extra help, and people were all too willing to lend a hand. Or in this case, hand over information.

"It's nothing to worry about, ladies. Just passing through." He seemed to think for a moment, glancing at the three other ninja who had continued walking without him. The man continued in a lower voice, leaning down to talk in a lower voice without being overheard. "It's just a rouge ninja passing through, but he shouldn't cause you any trouble. Best you two stay indoors until the firework show tonight. Just to be on the safe side."

After a polite thank you, the man jogged to his team and continued down the street, unaware of the terror that his words left.

Granny Lee grabbed Hana's arm, ignoring the violent jerk that followed as she dragged her granddaughter down the street, around a corner to a small, less traveled street, and down the small rock path that led to their front door.

The loud slam seemed to echo through the empty house, knocking Hana back into an alert state as she pushed herself away from the door as if it had physical shocked her.

"It's him, isn't it?" Hana asked in a rush, following Granny Lee who was now walking away from her. "We have to leave again?" Her grandmother still didn't answer her, and walked through the kitchen towards the hallway that led to their bedrooms. "Grandma!"

It was the pure desperation in her child-like voice that forced Granny Lee to turn around before she realized that she had been called 'grandma' instead of 'granny', reinforcing the look of utter helplessness in her granddaughters wide eyes.

"Pack a few things. We need to leave tonight."

This wasn't the first time that it felt like Hana had woken up standing in the middle of her room and throwing various outfits into her suitcase. She just opened her eyes and there she was, looking at the newly purchased skirt in her hands, hovering over the suitcase as she tried to think about what needed to come with her.

She felt like she was being cheated. But it was in a weird way that made her feel guilty for even thinking about it. Then, she would think about it again. There was the unmistakable feeling of self-pity, but was it entirely uncalled for?

Other children got to run around in the streets and play with their friends. She couldn't make any for fear of being found. Other kids got to go to school and learn how to be a ninja, but that path was stolen from her at an even younger age than she was now.

Most humans got to live without the fear of being found and slaughtered hanging over their heads every day, but she wasn't that lucky.

Hana gently closed her suitcase and zipped it shut, her fingers lingering on the cold metal zipper as she glanced around her bedroom. This was definitely one of her favorite bedrooms so far. It was large enough to give her space, without being too big and making her feel as if she had no possessions. When her eyes swept over the nice wooden dresser that her grandmother had gotten her when they first moved in, she lunged forward and grabbed the tan material coiled neatly on top, feeling a slight shock as she realized that she almost forgot it - her new wrappings.

Quickly, she unwrapped the dirty grass-stained bandages and cast them aside. She then carefully wrapped the new bandages around her arms, enjoying the soft new fabric and the way it tucked comfortably into itself at her wrists to keep it from unraveling. She admired the new material, despite the fact that it clashed with her dirty, designated-training shirt.

Hana grabbed the handle of her suitcase and dragged it off the bed, stopping only to throw a jacket over her shoulder before leaving the bedroom and the house. Leaving her life behind in order to save it, again.


	2. The Challenge

_**Flower Girl**_

_The Challenge  
_

* * *

The man was persistent, which was about the only thing Hana could say concerning Maito Gai that could possibly be positive. Irritating, loud, wore that atrocious green jumpsuit, too energetic... and persistent.

"Gai, please, we go through this every day." As usual, her pleas were ignored.

"Every _other_ day, my sweet flower." Gai stood confidently in the back room of the flower shop – when he had invited himself past the 'employees only' sign, she couldn't be sure – and was busy inspecting the rows of flowers organized by color, then size. In the past few years, Hana and Granny Lee had taken up residence in Konohagakure after hearing about how beautiful and peaceful the town was, and had gotten comfortable enough to open up a flower shop.

Granny Lee had been rooting for a tea shop, but with their mutual love of flowers (which was perhaps more prominent on Hana's part) they had decided to open up shop in the civilian side of the town, determined to keep their past a complete secret.

And knowing such a loud-mouth like Gai who hung around the shop like he was a kid in a candy store, it was even more difficult to keep their mouths shut.

Within the first few months of knowing Gai, Hana felt awkward with him in such a close space, but had eventually gotten over that by the hundredth comment about her resembling the beautiful flowers and him standing several inches away from her. Instead of replying with a blush and stuttered reply like she had months ago, she rolled her eyes and continued her work, trying her best to ignore the man. He had (persistently) broken through her silent barrier that kept him at a firm arm distance away, and she couldn't deny that the man had somewhat weaseled his way into her life. Though she would _not_ admit it aloud.

Every now and then he would come in handy – another point in his favor, albeit small – when she had trouble reaching one of the higher shelves. One thing she appreciated was the fact that he didn't tease her at every opportunity about her height...challenges. She still hadn't grown to a normal height, nor out of the sudden outbursts she would have when someone made fun of her for it. However, on days where she just wanted to be left alone, she would have preferred using a stool to asking him, even if it did make her feel like she was eight years old again.

Each day it became more apparent to her that he was more of a hindrance than a help. Sure, he could reach the top shelf with an ease that left her a little jealous, but after he helped he would wander around and inspect the flowers – his idea of inspecting often included picking up a flower and somehow mangling it in his grasp.

It had bewildered her at first. How could someone, even accidentally, destroy something so beautiful? She had a liking for flowers, and felt her anger growing more and more whenever Gai carelessly picked one up.

Every time he would pluck one out of it's place on the shelves she would smack his wrist and grab it from his hands, putting the disheveled flower back in it's place (or on the center table, if it was beyond repair) before more damage could be done.

Unfazed by the slap on the wrist, his booming voice filled the back room once again. "Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays I have extra training with my prodigy at this exact time. If it were not for that, dear flower, I would be spending said time here, with you."

"Okay. We go through this _every other day,_" she corrected, letting a breath escape through her clenched teeth when Gai made to grab another daisy off the shelf. "Drop it!"

She wasn't sure what made her think that Gai would ever listen to her, even if she was using the most threatening tone she could muster. As of today, he never had. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't even reach his shoulder and was easily half his weight that made her threat look empty. The light pink flower was taken off the shelf, earning Gai another slap on the wrist and an irritated glare that sadly didn't have the effect on him that she wanted.

Gai's wide eyes moved from the flower now bent at an odd angle hanging from the girl's hands to her face. Six months of Gai's...persistence... made her aware of what that expression – puppy-dog eyes, for a lack of better names - meant. It was an odd feeling, to know someone well enough to predict their next move, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant or unwelcome. The expression, however, was. "No."

"Please?"

"No." Hana smacked away the hand that was attempting to put a large peach-colored dahlia behind her ear. _When did he snatch that?_ Gai's hand – now flowerless – hung in the air for a moment before falling back down to his side, his fingertips brushing against one of her bandaged arms in what he must have assumed was a romantic gesture.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes, something she had always reserved for her grandmother and the woman's crazy antics. _Everything's a romantic gesture to him._ He looked a little disheartened, but the girl's experience with the man told her that he was far from giving up. One would think that months of being rejected would give Gai a clue as to how effective his methods were; however, they would be sorely mistaken, and obviously knew little about Gai's legendary determination.

She glanced down at the flower. Not too much harm done. She then looked to where the rest of the dahlias were and silently cursed the man clad in green – the top shelf.

_To ask or not to ask_. If she asked him to put it back, the 'gesture' could be twisted to her somehow leaning on him for emotional support; it had happened before. She took all of two seconds to make her decision and motioned for Gai to step back so that she could drag the stool out from under the counter.

Gai merely turned away and looked around the room at the other flowers while she reached up and put the flower back in its place, kicking the stool back under the counter. She turned back to the table – ignoring Gai as best as she could – and began sorting through the mangled flowers, trying to decide which ones were okay enough to go back on the shelf.

"So, what were we talking about? Oh yes, I believe I will be free Saturday evening-"

"No," she interrupted, having heard that exact line a week before when he was trying to convince her to go out on a romantic date with him.

"Yes, dear granddaughter, please?" A high-pitched cackle came from the door as Hana's grandmother backed into the room, a wooden box full of freshly picked flowers in her arms. The door swung shut behind her as her laughter died down to mere chuckles at her granddaughter's distraught expression.

"Granny Lee, this is not up for discussion. I'm too busy right now to be dating anyone." The woman looked far from believing her excuse, and fixed her with an incredulous, knowing look before setting the box on the large table. The woman brushed her hands off on her blue blouse, her gaze never wavering from her granddaughter. "The answer is no."

A soft bell sound rang through the store and Hana took this as her chance to escape – even if it was just for a moment. She was out the door and into the small flower shop before Gai or her grandmother could throw another argument at her.

As usual, the customer did most of the talking, explaining what and who the flowers were for and exactly how her grandson had landed himself in the hospital with a butter knife in his foot. _Something about an angry fiancee and a two year old?_ Hana had missed out on the full explanation, but she had gotten the gist.

She wrapped the stems in a pale purple paper, nodding and smiling politely whenever the one-sided conversation called for it. The woman didn't appear put-off, though. The regulars knew that a conversation between themselves and her would have to consist of a huge effort on their part – a very different situation would occur if the talkative grandmother was behind the counter, though.

She came to the conclusion that most of them merely liked to hear themselves talk, and went about her business, quietly helping whenever they needed it.

For such a long story that normally left her bored to tears, she found herself watching the woman's retreating back - how had she not noticed that hideously green shirt before now? - and wishing she could call her back to the counter. If nothing else, she would have another person other than herself to witness the oddity that was Maito Gai. The fact that her grandmother refused to admit that the man was insane made her feel oddly alone in the situation, no matter how full or empty the store was.

A moment after the bells over the front door stopped chiming – and it was too late to run after the woman or make a silent escape using the departing customer to mask her leave - Gai was leaning against the counter with an odd expression on his face.

Wide eyes, high eyebrows, pursed lips... The sensation of being able to predict Gai's intentions flowed through her. It was normally very nice, if a bit odd, but at the moment it was a little irritating.

"Puppy-dog eyes don't work on me, Gai." A flash of green went passed the front door; just the distraction she was looking for to get him to look anywhere but at her. "I think your 'prodigy' is training without you today."

"Lee, you rascal!" A wave of wind forced Hana's hair out from behind her ear, leaving her looking slightly disheveled and wide-eyed at the mere speed in which he moved. Gai kicked the door open with an amount of gusto that was unusual, even for him. In a second flash of green and an incoherent rant about beautiful flowers, love, and tomorrow, Gai disappeared.

"Hana?" Granny Lee called from the backroom.

With a sigh, she moved away from the counter and pushed her hair back behind her ear; she knew that tone. Hana crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. She slid her sandal against the wood floor, letting it catch on the threshold before pulling it free, getting herself comfortable for the lecture that would surely ensue. However, instead of the knowing – and slightly condescending – tone she had been expecting, Hana was met with a worried gaze, something that had honestly caught her completely off guard. "Maybe getting out once in a while would be good for you. Even if it is just with him."

"Whose side are you on?" The astonished words escaped her mouth before she could stop them, feeling betrayed by her own grandmother. Granny Lee knew exactly how she felt about Gai; he was irritating, annoying, loud...how could her grandmother expect her to go out with him? It would mean a never ending onslaught of date requests and love confessions, things that were already grating on her nerves. Not to mention the fact that she tried to stay off the streets as much as possible, opting to get fresh air by playing card games with their neighbor, a good friend of Granny Lee's that had unexpected made his way into their daily lives via tea and games in their small garden.

It was a long shot that they would have to leave from such a secure location, but the nagging worry that had followed her since age ten was difficult to shake, and it kept her in the house where she felt safest. That same feeling also turned her friendship with Gai into something that made her nervous. What if she did have to leave? She'd left friends before, but none had gotten themselves tangled into her daily life like Gai had. She definitely hadn't liked the man at first, but a friendship was a friendship, and that meant possible trouble later on.

Granny Lee shrugged off the question at first and picked up a handful of flowers from the wooden box, spreading them out on the table to be sorted. "Whatever side convinces you to get a fresh breath of air and see the light of day without being blinded by the sun."

Hana rolled her eyes, knowing where the conversation was going. "I'm not a vampire, Granny, I do go outside."

"Once a week." Granny Lee's dark gray eyes narrowed and it almost sounded like her grandmother was challenging her to argue. The competitive side of Hana that was hidden away – often hog-tied and gagged in the back of her mind – crept forward and forced her to reply.

"More than that!" Hana kicked the threshold again.

"Nope. I've been counting. You go to the grocery store once a week and aren't outside for more than twenty minutes. You're becoming reclusive, and I think we need an intervention." Her matter-of-fact tone was what caused both an embarrassed – she left the house more than that, right? - and annoyed reaction.

_The woman is _impossible_! _Hana pushed herself away from the door frame, watching for a moment as her grandmother grabbed a handful of red flowers and set them on the shelf. She busied herself with sorting the others by color, that hint of a smirk on her face showing that she knew she had won the argument.

"I am not," she answered lamely.

"Are too." Hana grit her teeth and turned away, shutting the door between the back room and the store. _If only that door would slam._ She cursed it, turning away and leaning against the counter with a frown settled on her face.

* * *

"Nobody in the world can make me smell that; it looks hideous." Hana crossed her arms, trying to assume the position she held whenever she was arguing with her grandmother. It rarely worked with the old woman, but perhaps it would finally drive some sense into the man leaning across the counter, waving a black, wilted flower in front of her face.

"Please? Smell it! I swear, it smells delightful."

"Nothing like _that_ can smell 'delightful'. Toxic, maybe...," she muttered, taking a step back when the flower was pushed even closer to her nose in an attempt to make her give in.

"It's a little wilted-" Gai admitted, giving the flower an affectionate glance.

"A little?" Hana's eyebrow shot up.

"-but it hasn't lost its beautiful fragrance." He finished his words with confidence, staring back down at Hana with a hopeful glint in his dark eyes.

"Like me," Granny Lee added with a chuckle, brushing passed Hana to stand in front of the register and inadvertently - _yeah, I'm _sure _she didn't mean to_ _-_ pushing Hana closer towards Gai_._ The man never missed a chance to tell her grandmother how 'youthful' she was in her old age (_suck up!_) and Hana had to ignore that part of the conversation to keep the last bit of her sanity that hadn't already been demolished by Gai.

Hana raised an eyebrow. "You have a 'beautiful fragrance'?" By the sharp look she received, she could tell that the incredulous tone was not appreciated in the slightest.

"Watch yourself, child. I made the man that brought you into this world and I can take you right back out." Hana turned away to hide the fact that she was both smiling and rolling her eyes. That was a common threat – could it even be called a threat? - from her grandmother. She was her blood and family, and that gave her the right to take her down if she didn't respect the 'authority' she held over her, very much _adult_, granddaughter.

"Very mature of you, Granny."

"I claim to be wise, not mature." The mischievous smirk was apparent in her voice. The smile on Hana's face faltered.

"Oh? So is it 'wise' to drug your granddaughter when she's sick?" Gai looked at the two, caught between defending the girl or the frail old woman that could very much be the key to him getting a date with said girl.

"That thing?" Granny Lee scoffed. "I would never drug you, silly girl. I informed you before that I would be putting something into your tea-" Hana snorted in disbelief, but let her grandmother continue "-and you must have not heard me. I was merely helping you get over that nasty flu you had." There was an odd, light tone in her voice as she held her head up high. She had obviously justified the entire thing to herself before the act was even committed.

"And how does sake help?" She was no medic, but wouldn't alcohol _slow_ the healing process? Something about constricting the blood vessels? Hana was caught between feigning irritation for the sake of their playful argument and actually being irritated with her grandmother. She had initially been outraged that the woman would pull a stunt like that, but she found that she couldn't be truly angry at her grandmother for long.

"I'm sure it somehow helped." She waved off the look of disbelief on Hana's face. "You're better now, aren't you?" Hana huffed and the dead flower that she had forgotten about was pushed back under her nose.

She reeled back, determined not to smell it and took a few steps away from where Gai was practically laying across the counter.

"I'm not smelling that."

Granny Lee stepped between the two and inspected the flower in Gai's hands, squinting her eyes and touching one of the withered petals gently. "Where did you find it, anyway?"

"Approximately a mile north of here." Granny Lee plucked the flower from Gai's hand and around Hana to set it on top of the register, although she couldn't fathom as to why that was supposed to be a good place for it.

"You should go and see if there are any live ones." The words were said with a smirk and a wink sent to Gai over Hana's shoulder. The two were ganging up on her. _Traitor!_

Gai brightened up immediately, straightening and composing himself, and Hana dreaded having to face him for she knew the exact 'suave' smile and large, wiggling eyebrow that she would encounter. The expression came right on queue.

"Why, dear flower, I would love to escort you to where I found them. You will be dazzled by the beauty, much as I am dazzled..." Hana tuned him out, her arms hugging her stomach as she shot a death glare to the back of her grandmother's head.

_The nerve of that woman!_ One minute she was leading Hana to believe that she understood how she felt about Gai, and the next she spun around and was entirely on Gai's side! _It's completely unfair, _Hana thought with a frown.

"Can you throw these out?" Granny Lee interrupted the rant with an apologetic look to Gai. Hana grabbed the box of mangled and wilted flowers from her grandmothers hands and moved toward the third door to throw them out; Gai hot on her heels.

"Um...that's a sweet offer, but no. I'm sure one of your ninja-friends would love to go with you."

"But, why not?" Gai asked, completely ignoring the attempt to change the subject or move Gai's sights off to a different girl. She would feel horribly guilty if she succeeded, she knew, but it would be worth it to be able to work a full week without having to fight off both Gai's advances and her grandmother's arguments about how she should date the 'fellow'.

"You don't even know my name-"

"But I see you every day – every _other_ day – and you still refuse to tell me, and even your youthful grandmother won't let your name slip." Gai followed Hana out the back door, holding it open with his foot so that it wouldn't automatically lock them out.

"It's just far too amusing to tell you now. That would spoil all my fun." Hana shrugged off Gai's exasperated expression and pushed the lid off of the giant garbage bin, wrinkling her nose at the smell before quickly dumping the old flowers into it. She let the lid fall down with a loud thud that made her jump, and turned back to where Gai was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

"So you're saying, if I can guess you're name...you'll go on a date with me?"

"No! I never said-" Hana's eyes widened the moment she saw the trap he was herding her towards. The man was competitive, of course he would turn this into some kind of challenge. Hana crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the side, attempting to create an 'I'm not a fool, don't mess with me' front.

Her attempt was quickly dismissed or ignored - she wasn't sure which - when Gai took a step closer, letting the heavy door slam shut behind him. Hana let out a groan.

Great, now she was stuck back here with him until her grandmother unlocked the door, and knowing the sneaky old woman, she would make several excuses to lock the two back there for hours on end. The idea brought a shiver to Hana's spine. _Granny Lee may be insane, but she's not cruel._ Hana thought, her confidence in the woman wavering the more her mind lingered on that thought. She glanced behind her, hoping that the brick walls surrounding them would have disappeared, or at least parted enough to let her slip through so she could escape. She had no such luck, and was forced to turn back to Gai with a defeated sigh.

"It's perfectly clear, lovely flower. I shall escort you to where I have found this gorgeous flower, my gorgeous flower. What time do you get off work tomorrow? Actually, no. Tomorrow I promised Lee we would do one thousand squats together. But surely you're free the day after that." Gai's hopeful expression gave Hana a pang of pity, however, she wouldn't feel any more guilty about turning him down than she had the past six months.

"Gai, I-"

"Is he bugging you?" A thud beside her made her jump, her breath hitching in her throat as she flew into the side of the garbage can in a leap that wasn't quite as graceful as she would have liked. The wooden box in her hands fell to the ground with a rattling ring that echoed through the small alleyway. She rubbed the sore spot where the edge of the garbage clan had dug into her bandaged arm and glanced to the man beside her.

Hana blinked, trying to process what had happened outside of the fact that a man just fell from the sky and landed in a neat crouch beside her before straightening up and nodding to Gai in a pleasant greeting. Clearly, he was a ninja. The only way for him to get into the small area was to jump down from the rooftop or scale the impossibly high fence at the end of the long alley. The typical headband that Hana had accustomed to Konohagakure ninja was pulled down over one eye - _how can see possibly see with his eyes covered like that?_ - and a mask was pulled up to his nose. His only visible eye was lazily half-opened as he quickly scanned the alley. The oddest thing about him was the shock of silver hair sticking up, although now that she was used to Gai and his oddities, this ninja wasn't quite so weird. Although the man was slightly shorter than Gai, he still towered over Hana, even after she straightened herself up and decided to take a spiteful stance against Gai.

"Yes, in fact-"

"No, arch rival! We were simply setting up a date for a romantic picnic." Great, even if she wanted to speak up her voice could hardly be heard over Gai's. Even when she wasn't around strangers - something that had become completely nerve-racking for her - her voice was anything but booming.

_Arch rival?_ So they had a history together. She wasn't sure whether she should feel sorry for the man beside her or sorry for herself, depending on how much like Gai this man turned out to be.

Still, even if he was odd like Gai, a savior was a savior, and Hana would accept any help she could get now that her grandmother had done a complete one-eighty on the subject.

"You still haven't guessed my name." She spoke up - wonderful, her voice sounded like it was barely more than a squeak! - feeling slightly spiteful towards Gai who was now giving a good-natured glare to the ninja beside her.

"How would you like to battle with me, Kakashi?" The name sounded familiar, but Hana couldn't place where she had heard it before. She fought the urge to roll her eyes - of course, Gai would turn anything he could into a competition.

"Battle for what?" The man seemed completely at ease, hands stuffed into his pockets and weight shifted to one foot - completely the opposite of how Hana felt while she was fighting off Gai's 'advances' in 'pursuing' her (her grandmother's words, exactly).

"A date with my beautiful flower, and a chance to win the heart of this pretty young youth! You see, my darling blossom has presented me with a challenge that I cannot ignore! I will win against you, Kakashi, to prove that my gorgeous flower and I are destined to be together." Kakashi tilted his head to give the girl a calculating glance, his eye curved in what looked like a pitying smile. She felt her face redden, but as soon as he looked at her, he looked away.

"I'm not going on a date with you-"

"Hush, little flower." Gai's hand reached out, apparently attempting to shush her the way he did when they were close together by pressing a finger to her lips. It never ceased to irritate her.

Her attention was brought to Kakashi, who had shifted his weight and was giving her another, oddly calculating look through his only visible eye. "So, what's the challenge?"

"The challenge, Kakashi, is to figure out the name of this darling lady."

Kakashi sighed and shrugged, a motion that felt a little demeaning to her. He was willing to take time out of his day and put up with Gai - an insane feat, in and of itself - and the fact that the 'prize' didn't seem to interest him one bit puzzled her. If he wasn't interested in her enough to look at her for more than a moment, why bother battling Gai? The fact that she couldn't answer that made her a little uneasy. "Sure."

"Great!" Gai's booming voice dragged Hana out from her thoughts, causing her to jump and turn back to him as he continued. "Whoever finds out the name of my pretty flower wins a picnic with her!"

"What's going on back here?" Hana sighed in relief when the backdoor opened, pushing Gai out of the way in the process. It appeared that she wouldn't be trapped back here for as long as she thought. Granny Lee's large, gray eyebrow rose when she spotted Kakashi, but she seemed to dismiss his presence as soon as she noticed him, and turned back to Hana. "You said you were just throwing those old things away!"

"I did, Grandma. Gai's here." That was enough of an explanation for anybody in Hana's opinion, and her grandmother seemed to agree.

"Oh, well, you need to get back to work." Hana nodded and watched her grandmother leave. She lunged forward to grab the door when she realized that it was swinging shut and felt her face heat up when both sets of eyes were on her, eyebrows raised in equally amused expressions.

"Duty calls," Hana said awkwardly, pointing inside and feeling even more like an idiot. _This is what happens when you open your mouth in front of people!_

"Well, I suppose our meeting here is finished. Until tomorrow-"

"The day after tomorrow," Hana corrected with a hint of a smirk.

"The day after tomorrow." Gai disappeared in one elaborate jump; they watched as he kicked himself between the brick buildings until he finally made it to the roof tops, and disappeared. Hana heard a cough beside her, and realized that she had forgotten Kakashi had been standing there. One hand was still stuffed into his pocket, but the other was holding the fallen wooden box out to her.

"What do you say we cheat?" Hana could have sworn she saw a smirk pass over his face, although with what she could actually see of it, it was hard to know for sure. The idea was about to be dismissed when she heard her grandmother ringing the bell by the counter three times. The woman would probably gang up with Gai and tell him her name, she definitely wouldn't put it past her grandmother. It wasn't cheating if both sides were doing it, right? Her and Kakashi versus Granny Lee and Gai...it seemed like fair teams. With the idea justified in her mind, as Granny Lee had justified drugging her, she grabbed the wooden box from Kakashi's hand, making sure to keep her foot in the doorjamb so that it wouldn't close.

Despite the fact that she was taking to a complete stranger, her voice came out more even than she would have thought, and even managed a small smile towards the man. "Anything to avoid a date with him."


	3. Winner Winner

**Flower Girl**

_Winner Winner_

* * *

"I have the utmost faith in you, Gai-sensei! Your determination has been an inspiration-" What would have been a very long and enthusiastic speech was cut short by a thud and a loud groan. Apparently, by the subtle smirk on Neji's face, Lee tripping over his misplaced hand was hardly accidental. Neji quickly hid his smile by letting his head fall forward, his long hair quickly falling towards the ground and covering his face from his sensei's view.

Maito Gai, however, didn't seem to notice that only two of his three students were still walking on their hands, and continued down the street while Lee scrambled to get back up.

"Thank you, Lee. I have several names in mind and will guess my flower's name before Kakashi knows what hit him." This was followed by a loud bark of laughter which drew everyone's attention to them, and if anybody on the side of the street wasn't already watching them and either laughing or shaking their heads in pity, they sure were now.

Craning their necks, Tenten and Neji shared a look and rolled their eyes. They - they being Tenten with Neji merely nodding his head in agreement - had tried to convince Gai to leave the poor girl alone. With little luck, of course. She probably hid her name from him with good reason. Tenten was graced with the image of their sensei standing on the Hokage Monument, screaming the poor girl's name at the top of his lungs. After a moment of contemplation, she realized that it probably wasn't that far off from what Gai would actually do.

"Can we walk, now? On our feet?" Neji's request came out as more of a growl, but it didn't seem to phase his sensei who had grown used to Neji's constantly irritated tone long ago.

"Yeah, please? I'll do a few more laps around the village if I can just get off my hands," Tenten chimed in, blowing a few pieces of hair that had fallen from her buns out of her face. She groaned when the chunks of hair fell right back in place, tickling her nose.

"But this is when you need to be working the hardest! You've hit the wall, and once you push past this pain-" The two students trailing behind himself and Lee looked less than enthusiastic about the exercise. "Alright, you two. Three more laps, on your feet."

"Thank you, Gai-sensei." Tenten sighed in relief when she flipped back onto her feet and slapped her hands together in an attempt to get rid of some of the dirt. She pouted when she realized that none of the dirt was coming off. Neji silently followed suit, brushing his hands off and following Tenten down the road at a quicker pace.

"Here we are, I believe this is my stop. Keep up the good work, Lee, I'll catch up with you once my business here is finished."

* * *

In her nightmare, she was running.

It was a common dream, but Hana wasn't able to shake her fear or stop herself from running in a blind panic through the rocky plains that surrounded her old home. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. She was out in the open and vulnerable, just waiting for it to come after her; to finally capture her like it had been trying to for years.

Would death be quick and painless? Would it feel satisfied when she died, or would it still mourn the loss of what Hana took from it? It couldn't possibly feel like her murder would avenge anothers death, would it? Why couldn't it just happen now?

Oddly enough, the knowledge that she was about to die – death couldn't be more than a minute away, could it? - didn't shake her up like it had before. Perhaps she was getting used to it.

Hana was definitely used to this terrain. The hard ground under her feet felt familiar as she pushed forward, working her legs as fast as they could go even though the setting sun made it difficult for her to see.

The sparse trees cast large shadows over the ground, but they were too few and far between to lend her any shelter or hope of hiding away until it left her alone. It wouldn't leave for long, but maybe if she could just have a moment to catch her breath, she could continue running.

But then a thought occurred to her, and it made her stomach flip and her blood run cold. She wouldn't be the only one to die. Granny Lee would be taken down with her, and knowing how little mercy it carried, her death would not be quick or painless.

That made her legs work harder, and in a split second it was like she wasn't moving fast enough. Her legs were shorter, that was it! She pushed her arms in front of her to see that they still bore the bandages on her arms, but even in the dim light she could see that the red blotches were fresh, and growing in size.

Hana ran harder, denying the fact that there were now tears streaming down her face. She wasn't running fast enough. It didn't matter that she couldn't hear the heavier footsteps behind her, she knew it was there. It was always there, a mere inch behind her and ready to attack when she finally gave up.

_I can't_! Even as she thought it, Hana's legs began to slow. No matter how hard she pushed them, her pace lessened and she slowed to a painful walk, her muscles and lungs burning from exertion.

Finally, after what felt like forever of walking through the dimming landscape around her, she found one of the few small lakes that the Land of Earth contained. It wasn't much, but she rushed forward, still all too aware that she was moving too slow and that it was behind her, moving in.

Hana fell to her knees and ignored the way that the sharp rocks dug into her knees. Without wasting another second, she shoved her arms into the cool water, letting it soak into her bandages and the blood to cloud around her arms.

Her sharp breaths made the water ripple, but the cooling sensation didn't stifle her panic. It was still behind her. Once the ripples stopped, she was able to make out her reflection in the dim light, wavering in the water with her every movement. It was her, but it wasn't; not present-her anyway. The face she looked at was younger, rounder, with more freckles and wide, terrified eyes. Her red hair was pulled back and away from her face, but it didn't hide the knots and tangles, making her looks even more like a dying animal.

A glimmer over her shoulder grabbed her attention, and in a split second she realized what it was too late. The familiar short sword that it carried everywhere for this exact purpose – to end her.

In a jolt of realization that this was her last breath, Hana felt her body give a violent jerk. She didn't dare open her eyes, but the odd, soft sensation that surrounded her finally got to her curiosity. She found herself sitting upright in her bed, her elbows resting on her knees and her hands running through her tangle hair.

It felt like she knew that it was a dream the entire time, but still, she wasn't able to calm down. Even her breath continued to come out in ragged gasps that slowly subsided until she was left sitting in a cold sweat, surrounded by blankets and pillows that made her feel claustrophobic.

Hana threw the blankets off and glanced at the clock. It was only five in the morning, which would account for the lack of sunlight.

She debated going back to sleep, but the thought was discarded the second her mind wandered back to her nightmare, the bloody bandages, and the sword hovering just inches above her. Hana pushed herself out of bed and readied herself for a long morning.

* * *

"Good luck with your challenge, Gai-sensei! You will do great, I know it!" The familiar, slightly high-pitched voice seemed to awaken Hana from her half-snoozing state. Her head jerked away from the hand it had been resting on, and she forced herself to stand up straight.

"Thank you, Lee, but luck is not necessary for me to win this battle!"

The voice that she knew would follow came right on queue, perhaps a little more enthusiastic than normal. That was odd, because Hana had caught onto Gai's tactic fairly quick. Over the past few days, he had tried to trick her name out of her or her grandmother – who Hana had sworn into silence – and he had been unsuccessful.

So, that begged the question, why was he so perky? Did he have a new strategy?

Hana spun around from her spot by the register and darted to the back room. Yes, she had good news to tell him, but having a conversation with him in the wee hours of the morning while her nerves were still fried from the nightmare earlier that day was not the ideal way for her to start the day. Hana had actually preferred that his 'arch rival', Kakashi, break the news to him instead. But apparently, she had no such luck.

Maybe if she hid well enough, he wouldn't find her.

She was inches – _mere inches!_ - away from sliding into the back room at the last second when the door slid shut. Hana smacked into it and quickly regained her balance, sighing when she heard the familiar cackle of her grandmother behind the wood.

She rubbed her sore forehead and ran a quick hand through her disheveled hair. _If I break the door, it'll be obvious where I've hidden_. The bells above the door rang and Hana froze, willing her grandmother to come to her senses and let her hide.

"Ah! There you are, my darling flower!"

Hana turned around, letting her back press against the closed door with a defeated sigh. Gai smiled up at her from where he was standing by the door on his hands. In a flip that nearly knocked several bouquets of flowers off their shelves, he landed on his feet with his fists resting on his hips and a confident smirk on his face.

Hana looked at him for a moment, waiting for the perfect time to break the 'horrible' news to him. She couldn't run or hide, so she would at least take as much pleasure rejecting him as she could – it was the least she deserved after dealing with him for so long without snapping.

"You lose." The words were said so simply that it took Gai a long few seconds to register what they meant. Hana watched as his confident smile faltered and he blinked at her.

"_What_?" The door behind her sudden flew open, leaving her with nothing to lean on and she stumbled backwards. Her grandmother dodged her and Hana saved herself the extra embarrassment of falling on her ass by clinging to the door frame. Her grandmother stared at her with a look of disbelief. Clearly, she had picked favorites in this little 'challenge' of theirs.

"You lose the challenge," Hana said, dismissing the look her grandmother threw at her – probably for not mentioning it earlier – and turned to look at Gai. "Kakashi guessed my name yesterday."

He scowled. She grinned. Maybe this whole 'challenge' thing wasn't as bad as she thought if it would get Gai off her back for good.

"But...but... I was sure to win!"

"But-cha-didn't," Hana sang in a happy tone, all-but skipping over to the counter and brushing some flower petals into the garbage can. Sure, she would have preferred avoiding Gai at all costs, but with how this conversation was going, the day wasn't starting out as bad as she had thought.

"Good morning, Hana." Gai's pitifully sad expression morphed into a scowl as the bell over the front door signaled Kakashi's appearance.

_At least one of them comes into the store on their feet,_ Hana thought with a chuckle.

"You! My arch rival! How did you possibly guess the name of my precious little flower?" A threatening finger was thrown in Kakashi's masked face. He paused for a moment and looked between the finger and the man attached to it with an unreadable expression. He finally dodged around the man and leaned against the counter with an amused expression - is that what it was? She was still having a hard time reading the one fourth of the face she could see.

"I suppose my tactics were simply more effective than yours." He kept his tone clipped, as if it hardly mattered that he had won their challenge.

When he had suggested they cheat, Hana had had a different train of thought in mind. Apparently, Kakashi's idea of cheating was to bring in their mail and see the several bouquet magazines, some addressed to Lee Inoue, and some addressed to herself, Hana Inoue. It had made her feel guilty for thinking that she would have just told Kakashi her name, but she tried to not let that guilt sink in too deep.

Gai let out a sound akin to a whining puppy. His large eyes moved between Kakashi and Hana's smiling faces before a frown settled on his lips and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. The odd, yet familiar sensation that she _knew_ what that look meant – he was up to something! - washed over her.

Hana never wanted a customer to walk in that front door more than she did now. She would take any distraction, even that one old lady who always talked her ears off about her grandchildren. Anything to get her mind off of the fact that she was horrible at getting herself out of these kinds of situations, and that Gai seemed to have a knack for trapping her in a corner - a trait she had discovered after a few months of knowing him.

"Are you planning on another challenge, Gai? Because I believe we both have missions this week. We'll have to plan them in advance." She wondered if he would be up to teaching her how to talk so casually and comfortably like he just did; leaning on the counter with just enough aloofness in his voice to not be rude. His eyebrow was raised in an almost challenging manner as the two shinobi stared at each other for a long minute.

Gai sighed and Hana felt her face burn red when Gai set his sights on her next.

"So, Hana, is it? That's a beautiful name fitting a beautiful lady, but you will always be known as my darling flower." Gai took a few casual steps around Kakashi to stand behind the counter with her, his hands held behind his back. He leaned down to give her a 'suave' smile, which Hana returned with what must have been an awkwardly uncomfortable expression.

_Has he lost all sense of boundaries? Can't he smile at me from across the counter?_ He opened his mouth to say something that would no doubt be embarrassingly flirtatious, she was sure, when he was interrupted by a strategically placed and none-too-subtle cough to grab Hana's attention.

"So, what time shall we have our date?" At Kakashi's voice, Gai straightened up and turned to face his arch rival. Kakashi's eye was curved in what appeared to be a smile; it looked like he was taking quite a bit of pleasure in making Gai both frustrated and uncomfortable in one easy sentence. He was smiling at Hana, however, instead of Gai and she felt her face get even redder than it already was.

"I'm off work at four," Hana said, thankful that her voice didn't fail her.

"I challenge you to another challenge!" Gai seemed to erupt with enthusiasm, balancing on one leg and pointing a finger across the counter to Kakashi, who had taken a step back from the register and was now slouching with his hands in his pockets.

"Okay. So what's the challenge this time?" Kakashi sighed, looking like he would really rather be doing something else at the moment.

_Then why is he here? And why is he continuing to go along with these stupid challenges?_ It confused her a bit and she was completely unable to understand why he was standing there when he didn't have to, with a look on his face that said he clearly didn't want to be. The fact that those questions couldn't be answered irritated her.

Gai's booming voice filled the store again. "A battle! I challenge you, Kakashi Hatake, to battle with me. Winner takes my little flower on another date!"

Gai seemed pretty pleased with himself, but Kakashi looked less-than-impressed. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck, putting his hand back in his pocket and shifting his weight before looking back up to Gai.

"I already beat you in a fighting challenge last week, Gai. I'm getting bored of those."

"Fine, how about a race tomorrow morning before our missions start?" Hana paled a bit when Kakashi shrugged. It wasn't an enthusiastic acceptance of the challenge, but it was an acceptance, nonetheless.

_He's going to be racing Gai?_ Hana had seen Gai run past the store almost every morning during his general routine of training, training, and more training, and his speed (even at a lazy pace) was nothing to scoff at. Hana felt her shoulders slump. _Great, I'm going to be going on a date with Gai._

"Perfect! Winner takes my pretty little flower on another date." He sent a wink Hana's way and ignored the irritated look his constant flirting left on her. "I wish you the best of luck, Kakashi, you'll be needing all the luck you can get to beat me." Gai threw himself forward and landed neatly on his hands, walking around the counter to the door. He looked at Kakashi and Hana from between his arms and gave them a wide smile. "Tomorrow morning, bright and early."

He leaned back a bit and set his feet on the bar across the door to push it open.

"You have to beat him," Hana blurted the moment the door shut behind Gai.

Kakashi turned from the door to raise an eyebrow at Hana, smiling a bit at her distressed (although she attempted to hide it) expression. "And why's that?"

"Because I am _not_ going on a date with him...ever."

"You know, you could just not go on a date with him, even if he wins. No one's going to chain you to a restaurant table-" He paused at the look Hana gave him. "Well, okay, he might."

Hana shrugged. "I know I wouldn't _have_ to. But, I dunno, I'd feel bad for going back on these challenges when I agreed to them...even if he did trick me into it. So, to avoid that, you have to win," she said simply.

"Are you making the food or shall I?"

"If you want to live, I suggest you make it," Granny Lee chimed in, walking in from the back room and setting a box of flowers on the counter. "You're on bouquet duty," she added, sliding the box down the counter to Hana. She peaked inside; pale blues, whites, and light purples. With a glance around the store, Hana realized that there were far too many reds and oranges - her grandmother always had a knack for knowing exactly what colors the store needed to look better.

"I'm not that bad of a cook," Hana said, her voice dying down a bit, feeling a little insulted as she pawed through the box of flowers. She had made several dinners over the past few weeks, and all were entirely edible...and even _good_ in Hana's opinion. Granny Lee rolled her eyes and gave Kakashi a knowing nod, mouthing something that Hana couldn't read behind her hand.

Hana sighed. One _bad meal every once in a while does not mean I'm a bad cook._

"I'll bring something for us to eat. I'll pick you up at four o'clock?" Somehow, coming from Kakashi, it didn't sound like such an insult for him to get the food.

"Four o'clock," Hana confirmed with a nod. "The door to the house is around the corner."

"Until then, darling flower." His overly-dramatic tone threw Granny Lee into a fit of giggles, and at the sound of her grandmother laughing like a giddy school girl, Hana couldn't help but laugh as well. Kakashi suddenly reached out a hand in a surprisingly good imitation of Gai, backing out of the store as the green-jumpsuit-clad man had done many times before.

Hana shook her head and looked back down at the flowers on the counter, wondering exactly when she had become comfortable talking - talking as in using more than the minimum number of words necessary to convey her thought - to complete strangers. Okay, so her voice wasn't exactly loud, but the fact that she could blurt out more than two words to the man was a feat.

With Gai, it had taken months of getting more and more irritated (and honestly, flustered) to bring her out of her nearly silent shell. But now that she was out and talking to people again, she wondered how she had gone years without making any friends.

"You're smiling," Granny Lee pointed out, smirking at Hana before reaching down under the counter to retrieve some empty vases.

"Yeah, so?" Her voice came out less irritated than she wanted. Whenever her grandmother had pointed it out in the past, it had annoyed her to no end. Still, she couldn't wipe the happy smile off her face.

Granny Lee shrugged, pushing a few pretty white vases down the counter towards her and making an idle comment about the combination of the colors. After a pause, she added, "It's just nice to see it, once in a while."

"I figured you would be mad that Gai didn't win. Aren't you on his side in this?" Hana questioned, raising an eyebrow at her grandmother who was straightening up and smoothing the creases in her dress.

"Like I said, I'm on any side that will get you out and into the sun."

Hana rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I'm _not_ a vampire."


	4. Minions and Spies

_**Author's Note: Complaints and comments can be filed easily and quickly by clicking that little button at the bottom of your screen labeled "Review this Chapter". I believe it's a code in some ancient language for "Make the Author's Day". :)**_

* * *

**Flower Girl**

_Minions and Spies_

* * *

"It doesn't matter what I wear, Granny. I doubt Kakashi will care. I'm just hoping that this will get Gai to leave me alone for a bit."

Taking turns rummaging through Hana's closet had gotten the two no closer to finding a nice outfit than they were an hour ago; taking turns, only because the closet was barely large enough for one of them to step into completely, let alone both. They had easily decided on a simple pair of pants, and had argued about whether she would keep her hair up or leave it down – ending in Hana triumphantly stealing the hostage-hair-tie from her grandmother's hands and throwing her hair up into a ponytail.

"I thought you liked having him around the shop?"

"No. _You_ like having him around the shop. He bombards me with date requests and ridiculous compliments every day." Hana gave up the search for a nice top to wear and threw herself onto her bed face-down with a groan.

Granny Lee gripped her knees tightly, lifting herself off the bed until she was completely standing, but once she was up she practically skipped to the closet and began shifting through shirts.

"Every other day," Granny Lee corrected, waving a finger in Hana's direction. "Poor little Hana. Being asked to date _multiple_ handsome jounin must be so difficult for you." The sarcastic quip was followed by a chuckle as Granny Lee pulled out several different shirts, looked them over with a critical eye, and then put them back when they were dubbed 'un-date-worthy'. "You know, when I was your age I..."

_It's the story about how she met grandpa,_ Hana predicted, focusing on her grandmothers words long enough to prove her right before tuning her out again. _Cute story, but it goes on forever and either ends in her hinting that I should find a husband and settle down or how 'kids these days' aren't concerned with "providing" the next generation_.

Hana had gone over that particular predicament many times before; all ending in Hana racing out of the room with a beet-red face and her grandmother cackling and screaming about the horrid topic of sex._ It's __comforting to pick out clothes with Granny_, Hana thought, remembering the few times that they spent together looking for nice things to wear. She didn't exactly have any friends who would help her. Gai would _certainly_ be a hindrance, in this case (she shuddered when she realized that the word 'friends' brought up a picture of The Green Beast of Konoha). And the way that her grandmother so naturally slid into the position of mother-figure brought a small smile to her face, and copious amounts of eye rolling to boot.

"Nevertheless, you should at least try and look nice for Kakashi. Put on a nicer shirt or something. I have an old blouse-" Hana cut her off before more damage could be done.

"I'm not wearing your blouse, Granny." She said the words as firmly and kindly as she could.

"And why's that?" Granny Lee peaked her head around the closet door, fixing Hana with a challenging stare that she merely rolled her eyes at. Of course, Hana wouldn't ever call Granny Lee's clothes old fashioned to her face. But...well...it was obvious by the ruffles on the shoulders and the (sometimes ridiculously) high neckline. Hana let herself fall back against the covers and stared at the ceiling. "What about this nice purple top you have? The one with the blue design on the front?"

Hana's nose crinkled like she just smelled something bad, remembering the time that Granny Lee had guilted – a kind word for blackmail – her for weeks until she wore it in public. "It clashed with my hair. And anyway-"

"I thought you didn't care how you looked?" There was a hint of amusement in Granny Lee's voice, but by the sounds of her moving things around in her closet she seemed to agree.

"A line has to be drawn somewhere," Hana mused, picking a piece of lint off her light blue blanket and flicking it away.

She heard an exaggerated sigh from somewhere in her closet before the shuffling sounds finally came to another stop. "Fine, how about this tan one?"

Hana contemplated it for a moment. She hadn't thought tan would be her color when her grandmother demanded she try it on in the store, but it had surprised her. That, and it blended in enough with the bandages on her arms to not make them stand out more than they already did.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Hana promptly rolled onto her back and lifted her legs up in the air before throwing them back down, letting the momentum carry her body – cringing at the cracking sound in her hip that reminded her to stretch more often - up to where her grandmother was holding a nice tan shirt out towards her. "Thanks, Granny. What are your plans for the evening, anyway?"

"Hachiro got a new Shoji board from his daughter; imported from Suna."

"Ooh, fancy," Hana cooed with a laugh, flattening the creases of the shirt with the palm of her hand.

"He needs someone to help break it in. And he mentioned something about a neighbor giving him a bottle of sake to celebrate Hoshi's birthday."

Hana's eyebrow quirked at that. "They gave him sake for a cat turning four?" Granny Lee shrugged, returning a few shirts that had been thrown unceremoniously onto the ground back into the closet. "Hey, wait. Aren't you not supposed to drink alcohol?"

"Oh, you know-"

"The doctor said," Hana interrupted, trying hard to obtain a dead serious face and giving her grandmother a slightly disapproving stare.

"What do doctors know? According to them I should be staying off my feet-"

"You _should_ be staying off your feet," Hana tried adding, though it was useless to get a word in edgewise when her grandmother was on that particular topic.

"-and I feel just fine walking around all day." The elderly woman peaked her head out from the closet long enough to send her granddaughter a cheeky grin. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die."

Hana sighed and laid the shirt over her legs. "Yeah, that's a cheery way to look at it."

Granny Lee ignored the sarcastic quip and backed out of the closet, shutting the doors firmly before wiping her hands off on her pastel colored dress. "You'd better hurry. It's almost four."

"I'm going, I'm going." Hana quickly shooed her grandmother out of the room so she could have her bedroom to herself. She sighed when her grandmother finally left, the last of her 'make-up tips' (consisting of Granny Lee demanding that she be allowed to doll her granddaughter up with blush that they used in 'her days') muffled until it was easy enough to ignore it.

It had been a nice day so far. No arguments, bickering, food fights... Hana was foolish to think that it would have lasted more than a few hours. And even that was pushing it.

* * *

_Why does Sakura always complain? Waiting isn't that bad._ Kakashi leaned against the brick wall of the flower shop, where it curved away from the street and connected to a small, almost cottage-like house. He wondered why he didn't expect a garden to engulf the area between the edge of the street to the house; stretching right along the property line, if he had to venture a guess. They did own a flower shop and seemed fond of their jobs, after all, so it should have been expected.

The entire garden looked as if it was cared for every day by the lack of wilting flowers and weeds in the soil.

The smell of different plants and the soft colors of the flowers added to the sense of peace that the area seemed to emit – nothing like the northeastern corner of Konoha, where ninja lived, worked, and trained. There, the sound of explosions from the training grounds and yelling from the more social and boisterous ninja were so common that they became background noise. (That is, until he decided to find one of the number of apartment complexes with sound proof rooms for some semblance of silence.)

Most ninja didn't have the time or the schedule to tend to a garden. Here, on the other hand, there was hardly any noise save for the few groups of civilians walking down the street; and the lack of explosions seemed to be a bonus.

So, when the front door to the house was thrown open and a surprisingly loud voice filled the area, Kakashi's attention was pulled away from the cloud that looked suspiciously like the lead character in the latest of his favorite books.

"They stay! End of discussion!" Kakashi tilted his head to the side just enough to spot the front door open and an angry red-haired girl step out into the small garden, only to spin around and slam the door shut behind her. "Crazy old..." The rest of the muttered sentence became impossible to understand as Hana fiddled with the door, most likely locking it behind her.

"I thought I was always the late one." Kakashi's eye curved, indicating his smile as Hana let out a short breath that almost sounded like a squeak and spun around. She blinked a few times before she hesitantly smiled back, a light pink tint on her cheeks giving away her embarrassment.

"Sorry." Hana stuffed the handful of keys into her pocket, her small smile turning apologetic.

"There's no need to apologize," Kakashi shrugged, following Hana out of the garden and into the street. He finally motioned to the small basket in his hand. (He decided long ago, when Kurenai had forced him to bring a proper picnic basket rather than a bag, that it felt awkward to hold. It just didn't seem to _fit_ him, and made it more difficult to read his book while he maneuvered through the streets.) "Should we get going?"

* * *

Naruto paused his never-ending stream of attacks long enough to scowl at the tree branch where his teammate had last been seen, and to determine where he had disappeared to within the trees and heavily bushed forest floors. The good thing about fighting in the forest during one of Konoha's warmest summers was that everything was a bright shade of green, making it easier to spot the head of black hair, the dark shirt, or the pale skin of his sparring partner.

The smallest of movements to his left caught his eye, and Naruto didn't hesitate to rush in with an army of shadow clones to back him up.

This particular match ended as swiftly as it had begun – ending with Sasuke calmly stepping out of the bushes (he would deny the fact that there was a few beads of sweat on his forehead to the death) and Naruto stumbling out, still trying to untangle his legs from the mesh net that had yanked him from the ground to the top of the trees in record time (and he, like his stubborn teammate, would deny that he had let out a scream rivaling Sakura's in girlishness).

"You guys have been practicing since the sun went up," Sakura commented, throwing the two an exasperated look when they came within earshot of where she was currently resting against the trunk of a large tree. "You don't want a break?"

"I'm not taking a break til I land a _solid_ hit on him!" Naruto yelled, a little too loudly for both Sakura and Sasuke's liking as he threw a glare in Sasuke's direction.

"You'll pass out from exhaustion long before that happens, idiot," Sasuke commented, stuffing his hands into his pockets and smirking just a bit to Naruto.

"You jerk! We'll see-"

"Come on, you guys. Rest," Sakura intervened, patting the ground next to her with a tired smile.

"I guess I might be a little tired," Naruto admitted, taking up the offered spot beside Sakura, whose smile quickly fell into a frown when their dark-haired teammate made no move to join them under the branches.

The area had been fairly quiet all day – aside from Naruto's random outbursts – and Sakura envied everyone who had opted to stay indoors, preferably with air conditioning and a large glass of iced tea.

_That,_ Sakura thought, her inner-voice darkening in her angry, _includes Kakashi-sensei. Why did he tell us to practice if he wasn't even planning on dropping by to make sure Naruto and Sasuke didn't kill each other?_

"There you are!"

_Think of the devil, and he shall appear_, she thought, throwing her head back and wincing when it connected with a small knot on the tree a little too hard. Naruto's eyes flew open and Sasuke shifted – the only sign that the sudden appearance of his sensei surprised him at all.

"I don't want to train anymore today, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura whined, throwing an arm over her eyes dramatically and sliding against the tree trunk until she was practically laying on the ground. The grass around her legs, which were now sprawled out beyond the confines of the shade, was warm, comfortable and a nice change from the chilly grass under the trees. She jumped up when the voice spoke next – obviously not the voice of her lazy teacher – and wished that she hadn't; that new position of laying partially under the shade was extremely comfortable.

"I don't plan on making any of you train." The voice was much deeper and louder than they had ever heard Kakashi-sensei talk before, and a far cry from the jounin's lazy drawl. Each word sounded as if the person was absolutely bursting with enthusiasm. "You are My Eternal Rival's genin team, am I correct?"

Sakura peaked curiously behind the tree that had been her backrest moments ago, to where Sasuke and Naruto were looking with wide, unmoving eyes.

Being around unusual boys for years had prepared Sakura for _some_ oddities, but even after seeing Naruto's train wreck of an apartment and catching a glimpse of Ino in the wee hours of the morning prior to doing her hair and makeup, she wasn't quite prepared for this. Her eyebrow twitched at the sight before her. The man was covered – almost head to toe – in green. And not a flattering, shaded green with some accenting colors to draw the eye away...just...green.

It took a moment for Sakura's mind to process anything but the offending color. A bright red headband tied around his waist and some orange ankle weights clashed horribly with the one-piece jumpsuit (her eye twitched again when she realized this) that the man was wearing. It took Sakura a moment to see anything other than the hideous clothes, but when she looked up (quite a bit up, since he was almost twice her height...at least) she began to wonder if the spasming muscles in her eyes would become permanent if she looked any longer.

_A bowl-cut? A _bowl_-cut? Who in their right mind would ever do that to a head of hair?_

"Uh, yeah," Sakura finally muttered, tearing her eyes away from the bizarre man in front of them long enough to glance at Sasuke and Naruto. Both looked as surprised (and disturbed) as she felt, meaning that neither of them had an idea of who the man was. "Who are you?"

"I am the rival of Kakashi!" the man bellowed, his voice carrying much farther than it needed to, and (Sakura blanched) struck what could only be called a "_pose"_.

"'Rival'?" Sasuke asked, quirking an eyebrow, but otherwise looking unaffected by the fact that the man had just thrown his hip out to the side in a decidedly _girly_ fashion and thrown his hands up in the air. Sakura wondered exactly _how_ Kakashi-sensei had come to know such an...eccentric man...and was cursed with the sudden image of her sensei striking a similar pose in greeting to the man. Thankfully, she was pulled from her thoughts when the man started talking again, keeping her from going down a train of thought that would certainly lead to night terrors.

"Yes! We am forever battling to discover who is the strongest, fasted, hippest and coolest ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village!" An awkward silence filled the area after the echo from his last outburst finally stopped rebounded off the trees. Even the small sounds of the forest had quieted down, and the lucky little animals disappeared, seeming to be wiser than Sakura would have given them credit for.

"Okay." Naruto's head was tilted to the side to the point where his ear was almost touching his shoulder, and his eyes were narrowed into slits, obviously just as baffled by the man's appearance and behavior as the rest of his team.

"How would you three-" the mysterious man swept an arm in front of him to indicate the three small ninja in front of him with a flourish "-like a challenge?"

"A challenge? What kind?" Naruto immediate perked up, and his head snapped back up, eyes wide at the mention of a possible challenge...even coming from such a strange man. Sasuke merely stepped forward, but didn't say anything, not about to back down while Naruto continued to train.

"Why didn't Kakashi-sensei tell us about the challenge before?" Sakura asked, suppressing her shock and gathering her wits enough to remember that their teacher had only ordered a regular sparing match.

"Because this is a secret mission...that will only be known between the four of us." The man's voice was much quieter, although it was still loud enough to where the three genin were sure they hadn't mistaken his words. _So...Kakashi doesn't know about this at all._

At the mention of a _super-secret_ challenge, Naruto took another step forward and his eyes widened even more in anticipation for what was sure to be something far more interesting than their regular sparring-sessions. In a show of his decision, he tightened the knot that held the Konoha headband to his head.

"What's the mission, then?" Sasuke asked, his dark eyes betraying him and showing his curiosity for only a split second. Sakura glanced at her teammates, a sudden gleam of determination shining in her eyes. _A super-secret challenge, it is, then._

* * *

_**Author's Note: Come on, do you really need to guess what Gai's up to? I'd like to think that he has a jealous side that, like every other side of him, just can't be contained. :)**_


	5. Mission, Failed

**Flower Girl**

_Missions, Failed_

* * *

The streets became a little more crowded, though not that much noisier, as Kakashi and Hana made their way out of the civilian district north. Hana quickly noticed the odd looks people gave them, what with her being obviously more self-cautious than Kakashi, who appeared to easily ignored them all.

Hana tried to copy this particular mannerism, hoping that she would seem less uneasy at the eyes that seemed to follow them through every turn they made. It was painfully obvious that it wasn't working, and her eyes quickly dropped back to the dirt under her feet, hoping that she was just being more paranoid than normal.

_This is why I don't want to 'get out more often'._ Hana's thoughts were slightly bitter, feeling more on edge when the streets became a little more crowded and they began to pass more stands selling different kinds of foods.

She definitely hadn't been through this part of Konoha since Granny Lee dragged her to one of the better tea places in the city, and she was quickly reminded of why when a squat man pushed past her, grunting in a silent apology before continuing on his way.

Hana wondered if this plan was even remotely a good idea. She wanted to run back to her room – even if it meant battling through Granny Lee to get there and scream about bandages and bright pink blush – if it would just mean she could flee the loud and crowded street.

Maybe she could just continue to fend of Gai's advances. Forever...and ever- That consideration was cut short when an image of her at her grandmother's age, fighting off a gray-haired, hunched over (but still _persistent_) Gai crossed her mind. That would _not_ happen. She may not be the assertive-type, but there was no way Hana would ever let the "Gai-situation" get to that level of extreme.

Every door slamming shut seemed unnecessarily loud, and every scream and yell from someone greeting a friend put her more and more on edge. She quickly pegged it on the fact that she had been surrounded by nothing more than the occasional argument with her grandmother and the soft chatter of some customers in the store for the past few years, but even that didn't justify her jumpiness in her mind.

Weightily, Hana sighed when she realized that her arms decided to strike up their defensive pose naturally, and crossed over her stomach so that she could grip her elbows, stifling a bit of the alarm when someone suddenly pushed against her shoulder. She threw her hands down to her sides, glancing back up and trying to fight the urge to lower her eyes again.

Hana knew it was irrational of her to be thrown into such a frenzy over some noise and some people brushing against her arms, but that analytical part of her brain that squeaked that out was promptly shoved into a box and thrown into an endless abyss when a girl around her own age shrieked in laughter; the sharp and sudden noise pushing her already frayed nerves.

_Bad idea. This was _such _a bad idea!_

Hana let out a long, relieved breath when Kakashi turned down a less crowded street, her frenzied mind not quite registering the fact that she was merely following behind him like a lost puppy. If the rational and reasonable part of her mind wasn't currently recovering from an abyss of decidedly irrational panic, it would have quickly made it's grief about that known.

Kakashi had noticed the sudden tenseness that seemed to emit from Hana in waves the moment they stepped into the main street of Konoha, and made the wise decision to take a different route that would bring them closer to the wall of the city rather than the center. He wondered if asking about her sudden unease would throw her into another bout of tension and blatant agitation – and if she was even aware of how noticeable it was - then decided against it when he glanced at her again. An embarrassed shade of red that could have easily battled the color of her hair covered her face and her eyes that had been glued to the ground before her were finally glancing up, almost timidly, at the buildings and people around them.

Kakashi leaned in closer to Hana, and she struggled to not jump away at the suddenly close proximity.

"We're being followed," Kakashi whispered, making it look like he was simply walking closer to her, earning the two a couple more stares from a group of elderly people who were huddled around a table that seemed to be on its last leg and a Shoji board.

Hana suddenly remember where her grandmother was, playing the board game with an old friend, Hachiro, who had mastered the immature "Hand of Fate" long ago, and slammed a wrinkled hand on the board to scatter the pieces when he felt he was done playing. The man could be immature, but, like a few other people of Konoha, he had weaseled his way first into Granny Lee's life, and then into Hana's.

Hana felt a little envious at the moment – that would have beaten being followed by God-knows-who any day.

"By who?" Hana whispered back, feeling a chill run down her spine and the irrational, quick-to-panic side of her mind began to stir just a little bit. That wasn't quite as irrational as she first thought, she concluded.

"I think I know who…. This way." Hana caught a flash of a curved-eye smile before he side-stepped into one of the small alleys separating two large apartment complexes, pulling Hana along by a tight grip on her wrist. His hands flew into several hand-signs, and a second Kakashi appeared beside him, kicking up some of the dust from the ground.

The clone grabbed Hana's shoulder and quickly steered her back onto the street, where one old man with a horribly crooked nose seemed to have won, if his attempt at a victory dance was anything to go by. Hana craned her neck to see what the real Kakashi was doing, but only managed to see him leap onto a rooftop and disappear from view.

* * *

"SHH!" Sakura swiftly smacked the back of Naruto's head as he let out a loud sneeze, violently motioning with a finger to keep quiet.

"I can't _not _sneeze!" Naruto said exasperatedly, trying to keep his voice below a whisper; which was proving to be a hard task for the loud-mouthed ninja. His pink-haired teammate sent him a swift glare before glancing back over the edge of the building. Sasuke joined them within a few seconds, landing silently beside Naruto with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"I think they're heading towards the North Gate," Sasuke informed them, stepping away from the edge of the roof as to not draw more attention to themselves.

Sakura let out a long sigh, her hand resting against her chest and her eyes sparkled in Sasuke's direction. "Awe, a picnic sounds so romantic." She seemed to deflate a little bit when Sasuke simply 'hn'ed in response, and was either entirely oblivious or very good at ignoring Sakura's 'hints' by now.

"I don't see how birds and bugs eating your food can be very romantic," he finally commented, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as Sakura let out another sigh, this one defeated instead of hopeful.

"Where are they now?" Naruto asked, craning his neck to look down on the busy streets below. He quickly spotted the spiky silver head of hair bobbing around the crowd of people next to a shorter girl, and noticed how far away they were getting.

"Come on!" Sasuke whispered, taking a running start before leaping into the air and landing on the shorter building below. Sakura and Naruto quickly followed, continuing their super-secret mission; spy on Kakashi-sensei and his date.

* * *

"And that was all you could figure out?" Gai asked, staring over at the three smaller shinobi standing in front of him. Naruto nodded solemnly, his stomach growling as he wondered why they hadn't stopped to eat on their way back to report to Gai about their 'secret mission'.

"We're sorry," Sakura added.

Gai shrugged off the news, that Kakashi was just taking Hana out on a date. But that wasn't really what he wanted to know. He couldn't confide in his rival's students about what information he was really after though, so he was forced to act as nonchalant as possible, and get the information himself.

He had intended to make sure his arch-rival didn't make any moves on his precious little flower, but with a sigh, he realized it was almost past sunset, and the two would be over halfway through their date and possibly on their way back home now.

"That's perfectly okay," he said, sounding oddly cheerful as he turned back to the three students. "I'll find another way."

"Another way to wha-"

"Well… I'm off!" Gai said loudly, cutting off Sakura's question before racing down the street and out of view within seconds. Sakura shook her head and the two boys stared after the jumpsuit-clad man with suspicion.

"You don't think he'd try and ruin Kakashi-sensei's date… would you?" Naruto asked as he felt his stomach emit a loud grumble. A full day of training with barely enough breaks to breath meant a huge meal was due.

Sakura shook her head.

"I don't think so." Sakura said, leaning against the side of a closed store.

"Okay, so someone promised me dinner," Naruto whined, hugging his stomach as it let out another loud growl right on queue.

"No one would promise you that, idiot." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but led the way down the street to the nearest food stand.

"I distinctly remember it!" Naruto yelled out, outraged, but Sasuke ignored his comment and slid his hands into his pockets.

* * *

"So…," Kakashi said, leaning back against a tree. He had already finished his meal when Hana was distracted by the oranges that he had packed, and the two sat on the grass; Kakashi leaning against a tree while Hana sat cross-legged beside the basket with a nice pile of orange peals by her knee.

"So… what?" Hana asked, a small smile on her face as Kakashi's visible eye glanced over at her before staring back over at the sun that was quickly making its' descent towards the mountains.

"You never told me why you and your grandmother moved here from Rain Country." His eye curved upward; the only indication that he was smiling. "Did you not like the weather?"

Hana resisted the yearning to blatantly change the subject, and tried to hide the sudden panic that erupted in her head. Of course, he would ask about it eventually! She had been so relieved that he didn't question her home village before that she forgot to make up a story as to why they moved.

Kakashi quickly noted the sudden panic, and the odd way Hana pulled her knees back up to her chest, hiding her arms behind them. That sort of reaction was definitely interesting.

"Oh, um, not really. I didn't mind it too much, but Granny Lee hated it." Now at least that wasn't a complete lie. She did happen to like the rain (especially the downpours in Rain Country) but Granny Lee despised it with a passion.

Kakashi nodded, and Hana felt her arms automatically come to wrap themselves around her stomach cautiously. Suddenly, Kakashi's head fell forward and he let out a long sigh.

"What-?"

"Someone's spying on us again." This time, there was a small hint of irritation in his voice before his eye curved upward again. He lifted his head, scanning the trees ahead of them for any sign of movement.

"But- I thought they already left."

"I think it's Gai. He's come himself because his little minions- well, because my squad couldn't spy on us enough."

It was Hana's turn to hang her head.

"_Greeeat._"

"Wait here, I'll-"

"Gai! Get over here _right now_ or I'll _never_ go on a date with you!" Hana yelled, surprising herself along with Kakashi by her sudden loudness. She was never loud. Never! But something about Gai pinched her every last nerve, and him and his antics were slowly driving her insane.

_I've never yelled like that before,_ Hana thought, smiling sheepishly and feeling her face heat up as someone leaped out of a tree.

Gai jumped out of the tree and landed in front of the two lounging figures on the ground, looking guiltily between the two.

"You must understand, my little flower," he started up, turning to Hana with a look that was near-pleading. "I was merely trying to protect you."

"From… Kakashi?"

Gai nodded. "And others. You never know with _some_ of the ninja, here. I was simply protecting you from my arch rival and his ways."

"My… _ways_?" Kakashi asked, visible eyebrow quirked as he looked to Hana, both sporting an incredulous expression. Hana stifled a laugh and turned her attention back to Gai.

"I was just trying to protect my little flower from harm."

"Gai… I can protect myself."

_I can't believe I have to explain this to him. I hardly even know him! I hardly know either of them!_ Hana thought as she stared between Kakashi and Gai.

"But what if a band of rouge ninja's came to attack you?" Gai threw his arm over his eyes, striking quite the dramatic pose. Hana cringed back a bit, wondering if he knew how accurate that possibility was to her. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you, my little flower."

"Uh… well, I think I'm safe enough," she muttered, wishing she could hide herself entirely behind the giant tree they were sitting by. Gai stared at Kakashi, caught between inspecting him (which seemed to make Kakashi a little uncomfortable) and glaring at him. Hana finally rolled her eyes. "Gai?" Gai turned to Hana, glancing back at Kakashi every second to glare at him. Jealousy was really not suiting him well.

"Yes, my little flower?"

"I think you can go now."

It looked as if Gai had deflated. His shoulders hunched forward and a huge frown washed over his face. He thrust out his arm, looking as if he would grab Hana if she was not a good few feet away.

"I will win a date with you soon, my precious flower." And with those last few words, he jumped into a tree and disappeared from view. Hana felt herself relax a little bit, and Kakashi did the same. She let out a small breath of air that came out as a nervous laugh.

"You've known Gai since he was a kid, right?" Kakashi thought about it for a moment, staring off into the trees where Gai had disappeared to.

Finally, he nodded his head.

"Was he this weird when you guys were younger?"

"He hasn't changed a bit." Hana shivered a bit at the thought. There would be no doubt that the next time Hana's nightmares plagued her dreams, somewhere in the background, a younger, louder, more clueless and persistent Gai would be running around on his hands.


	6. Mother's Day and Morning People

_**Author's Note: The quotes that are centered and in italics are the general murmurs of the crowd. I didn't add specific names because I really didn't want to make up random villager's or scrounge up every ninja name so that everyone will be present at the race. It's just mindless chatter where you can sometimes pick up a few words or sentences.**_

_**If it's too complicated or doesn't look right, let me know so I can fix it. I know this site absolutely loves to screw up the formatting on everything. That isn't meant to be rude, just fact.**_

* * *

**Flower Girl**

_Mother's Day, The Race, and Darn Morning People_

* * *

A few days had past when Gai didn't show up at the store. It meant for some very peaceful mornings, but in a weird and uncomfortable way, it made Hana miss the little contact she held with people outside of the store. It wasn't much – most of it was on Gai's part – but it was enough to be noticeable when it was gone.

For that matter, neither of the two jounin had shown up for several days.

It was odd. Peaceful, in a way that only a store filled with regular civilians walking on their two feet can bring, but not exactly comfortable. Again, an odd feeling to have that seemed to weigh on Hana more than she would ever expect. But it would be a cold day in hell before Hana admitted that she missed their antics.

Tying a secure knot around the center of the bouquet, Hana handed over the arrangement of pink and white flowers to the child whose head barely cleared the counter. She smiled kindly to him and wished him a nice day.

"My mom will love these. Thank you!" The boy yelled, grabbing the flowers, throwing enough small change on the counter to indicate his piggy bank had taken a hit, and ran out of the store. Filled with guilt, Hana crouched down to check the calendar that was sitting on the bottom shelf: Mother's Day.

How could she have forgotten? It was their tradition, though it wasn't much of one, for Hana to buy Granny Lee flowers and to have tea with their friend, Hachiro the day after. She was sure that the old timer had made plans for them to come over and play some Shogi (until he released 'The Hand of Fate' and cast the entire board aside when it was obvious that he wasn't winning) or some cards.

Now that the store was fairly empty, save for the one customer who couldn't make up his mind about which flowers he wanted, Hana slid open the door to the back room and quickly found some of her grandmother's favorite flowers; the white and light pink camellias.

Hana had to pause halfway through wrapping and buying the bouquet to help the customer who had finally decided on a deep blue arrangement, and then ran through the hallway connecting the Inoue Flower Shop from their small house.

She couldn't waste too much time standing around and leaving the store unwatched, so she quickly found the nice vase that her grandmother kept under the sink, added water and set the flowers nicely inside.

There. Standing on the table was their tradition; some pretty flowers and the unspoken agreement that Granny Lee had taken up the role of Hana's mother.

* * *

"Anything new happening in your life, kid?"

Hana sat on the porch of an older house that looked a little out of place surrounded by the city's many apartment complexes or modern houses. It had a farm-house feel to it, as did Hachiro, the old man sitting across the rickety table from her, who wore nothing but white shirts and faded blue overalls. She got the feeling that he had always had that goofy smile on his face, but it looked even goofier surrounded by a tanned, wrinkly face and white, wispy hair.

Hana let out a short breath and looked over the several stacks of cards that were spread around the table in front of her. Over the top of her own cards – which weren't too good – she saw Hachiro staring at her with that ever-present smile.

"Granny Lee already told you about the date stuff, hasn't she?" Hana asked with a small, knowing smirk his way, placing two cards carefully on the table in front of her. The game wasn't entirely lost yet, so she would have to keep an eye on the cards and not let herself get distracted if she wanted to beat him.

The old man chuckled, not needing to reply – the old gossip of a grandmother would have no trouble spreading some news like Gai and Kakashi's challenge to her close friend - and picked up a few cards from one of the several decks that lined the right hand side of the table.

"I wondered when you would start taking notice of the men around here. Took you long enough," he jabbed playfully, leaning down – making sure to keep his cards placed firmly in his lap so there would be no chance of Hana peaking at them – to pet the large dark gray cat that leaped up onto the porch.

"It's not like I'm old or anything," Hana said, deciding not to take too much offense at the joke and lean over to pet the cat when it meowed and trotted under the table to greet her, large green eyes expecting pets. "And how was Hoshi's birthday?" She scratched behind the cat's left ear, smiling at the loud purr she got in return. Abruptly, the large cat shook his head and trotted off, disappearing behind one of the few bushes that were scattered around the front yard.

"He got some tuna for dinner, so I think he was pretty happy."

"You didn't share any of the sake with him?" Hana asked, smirking when Hachiro's smile widened.

"I kept it away from your grandmother, if that's what you're hinting at." It was. Hana turned back to her cards and looked over the several stacks of cards that were spread before her on the rickety table.

It was a complex game that Hana had learned from the old man, who had learned it from some distant uncle, and since Granny Lee didn't have to patience to learn it, Hana was the only one who was able to play it with him.

Hachiro was currently leaning back in his chair with his cards placed face-down in his lap, his poker face being the smile that always made him look both older, by increasing the amount of wrinkles on his face, and older by the glimmer in his dark eyes. He was definitely a unique man.

"Did you get her the flowers?" Hachiro asked, scratching his bony chin when Hana triumphantly placed a few cards down on the table. His smile faded for a split second but came right back – his tell, and she was sure that he didn't even notice he had done it.

Hana tried hard to hide her smirk, since she now knew she would win if she got the next few hands right. She didn't respond right away, and instead stared intently at the cards spread across the table.

A few hands had passed before she remembered that he had asked her a question.

"Yeah, she liked them. Are you playing Shogi with her tonight? I think she's looking forward to it." There was something nice about being so comfortable with small talk, but the feeling only seemed to occur when Hana played cards with the old man, who often asked question after question, and basically wore her down until she was forced to just go along with his conversation. She found that she even liked to contribute once in a while, instead of letting him do most of the talking. It was odd; not bad, but different.

With Gai, Hana grew irritated and would sometimes yell at him – something she rarely did. With her grandmother, she found herself rolling her eyes and laughing more than she had in a long time. And with Hachiro, she was able to chat idly without feeling like every question was part of an interrogation.

_Konoha sure is something,_ Hana thought with a smile, adding a majority of the cards that were in her hand onto the table.

"I was thinking of changing our little tradition," Hachiro said, frowning again when he placed a single card on the table and messily threw the rest in front of him with a flick of his wrist, signaling the end of the game.

Hana raised an eyebrow in silent question and gathered the cards up, making sure they were all faced properly.

"Would she be opposed to dinner?"

"Depends on where," Hana thought for a moment and set the cards on the table when they were organized, drumming her fingers on the top. "She doesn't like fish too much, but if you go somewhere that has good chicken then she won't be able to say no."

Hachiro's tanned face lit up a bit, and his smile widened even more. "See? I knew there was a reason I ask you these kinds of things first. Sharp as a tack, you are."

"You sure are throwing around some compliments," Hana noted after moving the tie that held her hair back to a more comfortable position on her head.

The man suddenly looked to the side, and if Hana didn't know the man better she would have thought he was a little embarrassed. "Well, since you are just like family to me-"

"What do you want?" Hana finally demanded, feeling a little uncertain since Hachiro was not one to beat around many bushes.

"Would you ask her for me?" He blurted out. Hana wasn't sure if he was blushing or not – his darker complexion made it difficult to know for sure.

Hana scoffed a bit but laughed, sliding the deck of cards over the table to where Hachiro caught them before they could fall off.

"You do your own dirty work, old man." He chuckled, but didn't seem entirely put-off by her refusal.

"Nice talking to you too, kid," he said when Hana slid her chair back to get up and leave, waving behind her as she took the steps down the porch two at a time.

* * *

_"I thought it was supposed to be warm today."_

_"That's what they said, but it's freezing!"_

_"Why didn't I bring a jacket?"_

_"Do we have enough time to go back and get one?"_

_"Yeah, but you don't want to miss this."_

Hana stood off to the side of the rather large crowd that had gathered outside of the flower shop. Despite how early it was, people had managed to get up at an ungodly hour in the cold morning to gather and watch a race that would likely last less than a minute.

_Or maybe they always get up this early. _Hana shrugged at her own thoughts and tried to tune out the mindless chatter of the people around her.

A hand landing on her shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts. She definitely wasn't a morning person. Or a crowd person.

"Oh, hey Granny," Hana said, letting out a sigh that turned into a white cloud that dissipated into the freezing cold air. Grandma Lee smiled up at Hana, as perky as ever in the morning. Hana resisted the urge to glare at her always-happy-no-matter-the-hour grandmother…how did she get to be such a morning-person? Hana wrapped her arms back around herself, both out of habit and out of the need for warmth.

_How can _anybody _like the morning? _Hana thought, surprising herself by her own bitter thoughts.

_"Are they even here yet?"_

_"I thought I saw one of them over by the Academy-"_

_"-that makes no sense, I saw them both over at the Hospital, maybe ten minutes ago."_

There was another hand that gripped Hana's shoulder, much bigger than Grandma Lee's. Hana jumped, once again, at being pulled out of her current task of glaring into the crowd aimlessly, and turned to see another very perky morning-person clad in a bright green jumpsuit.

_Of course…he's a morning person_. Hana let out a yawn, giving Gai a glare that surely expressed her hatred of being woken up this early. And for something so stupid! _Couldn't they just tell me who wins? I hope they don't expect me to hold up a black and white flag or anything…._

"I was thinking, my little flower," Gai said, a smile on his face as he leaned against the wall of the store. "Where would you like to go on our first date?"

Hana quickly looked to her grandmother for help.

_Where'd she go? _Hana quickly scanned the crowd, finding the familiar bushy eyebrows and gray hair dashing through the crowd. _Insane old batty-woman._ Hana slowly turned back to Gai, trying to keep at least some of the sleepy-hatred out of her voice.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Gai. Who said you'd win?" Gai's face fell just a little bit, before retreating right back to his usual cheery expression. Hana smacked her forehead as Gai opened his mouth to talk, striking a pose that promised a very long, very loud speech.

_Why did I leave any room for conversation? _Hana asked, her face growing red as the crowd finally realized that one of the contestants for the competition was there.

"Oh, you youths!" he started, flicking a piece of red hair out from Hana's face. She flinched back a little, but glared at Gai when he withdrew his hand from her face. "My arch rival is quite the competition, but alas…he can not beat me in a footrace. That is where I shine!"

There was a cocky look on his face as he flashed the entire crowd a smile. Hana tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, feeling her face take on another shade of red entirely when the rest of the crowd turned to face the two.

"Gai-sensei! Gai-sensei!"

A very enthusiastic boy leaped over the crowd, landing in a crouch in front of the two with almost the exact same expression on his face as Gai.

"Ah! Lee! You've come to watch me crush my arch rival in a contest of speed for the heart of a beautiful young lady." The boy bowed to Hana, black bobbed hair swaying as he jolted back up. She waved awkwardly back, suddenly unsure if it was rude to not bow back. If it was, the smaller boy didn't appear to notice.

"Of course, Gai-sensei, I wouldn't miss an opportunity like this!" Hana wanted nothing more than to press herself up against the wall and disappear entirely from view…but of course, that couldn't happen. "And is this the beautiful flower you've been talking about?"

Hana felt her very pale face turn back into a tomato, staring between the two and debating if she could outrun them.

_I only have to make it to the shop doors_, Hana judged the distance…, _ten feet? Maybe less if people weren't standing in the way._

"Are you two trying to stall my victory?" A familiar voice broke through the crowd, and a masked ninja with his hands shoved in his pockets made his way towards the flower shop.

"Can we just get this competition over with? I have a bit of money riding on this race." The crowd gave a little gasp as the Hokage, Lady Tsunade, appeared beside Kakashi; looking like she would very much like to go back to sleep by the looks of her glare and bed head. Kakashi spun on his heel, heading back towards the middle of the street, followed by a majority of the crowd.

Hana felt a hand on her chin, pulling her to look up towards Gai.

"Do not fret, my beautiful flower; we can make arrangements for our date in a moment." Before Hana could shove his hand away, he had disappeared along with the other odd jumpsuit-clad boy into the crowd.

Within seconds, the entire group was moving. Hana felt hands grab her arms and shoulders, pushing her towards the middle of the road with Kakashi and Gai; despite her rather dramatic attempts to rip her arms away from their tight grips.

_Does _nobody_ have a sense of boundaries?_ Hana forced herself to calm down, and was able to turn a bit of the panic that rose in her throat at being surrounded into irritation. The people either didn't seem to notice, or just didn't care, and made sure that she wasn't able to make a mad dash for the Inoue Flower Shop.

When she was finally let go, she wrapped her arms back around her stomach and turned to face the two jounin.

"Would you like to do the honors, my flower?" Gai asked, jumping into an oddly wide stance as he stretched. Kakashi's hands remained in his pockets, eye half-lidded as if he had just woken up.

_He doesn't want to at least stretch?_ Hana wondered, hearing a few cheers for both Gai and Kakashi from behind her. She glanced back, seeing Lee jump up and down in an overly enthusiastic manner, chanting words that were lost in the chatter of the crowd. Lady Tsunade was standing with a hand on her hip, watching the two intently and no doubt pondering which of the two would win.

Hana turned back to the two ninja, telling herself again that it wasn't a big deal, that it was just a silly crowd of people, and wondering exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

Gai knelt down, drawing a line in the dirt with his finger before standing back up and motioning for Kakashi to join him. Gai flashed Hana another smile, quickly switching places with Kakashi so that he was standing just a few inches away.

"Um...what am I doing the honors of?" Hana asked, feeling her cheeks growing red as people on both sides of the road stared at the three.

"All you have to do is say 'start', and you can be the judge of who wins." Hana nodded, thinking longingly of her warm bed that awaited her after these ridiculous morning activities were over with.

_Isn't today my day off? _Hana groaned inwardly at this realization.

Gai did a few warm-up jumps before kneeling back down and taking up a running position, his thumb and index-finger place barely an inch behind the drawn line.

"Um…ready?" Hana waited for Kakashi to take some sort of stance. He remained standing, hands shoved in his pocket as he admired the horizon.

_Great… I'm going to have to go on a date with Gai. _Horrible images filled Hana's mind, causing a chill to run up and down her spine as the two nodded.

"Okay…go."

A cloud of dust engulfed the crowd, and Hana quickly covered her mouth and nose. She coughed a few times to clear her throat, and blinked her eyes.

_Are they really _that_ fast? _Hana wondered, watching as the dust settled enough for her to be able to squint and see the shape of the crowd on the other side of the street. People around her erupted into cheers, jumping up and down. Hana looked down the way they had gone.

_Where are they?_

The cheers grew louder as a cloud of dust moved from the opposite direction down the road, crossing the line in a blur of green and blue. Hana covered her mouth again in an attempt to protect her lungs, but she found herself gripping her knees as she coughed violently; clearing her lungs of all dust and sand before she was able to open her eyes again.

_"Well? Who won?"_

_"It was Kakashi!"_

_"I win the bet!"_

_"It was Gai!"_

_"What? How?"_

Hana found numerous eyes fall on her as she stood in front of the two jounin, slightly out of breath as she gave another weak cough, not enjoying the fact that the icy air seemed to burn her throat and nose. Kakashi had his hands in his pockets once again, and Gai was standing in an obvious 'victory pose'.

_They aren't even out of breath!_ Hana felt a little irritated, and admittedly a little jealous.

"Well?" Kakashi asked, an eyebrow raised as glanced over the crowd.

"Um…how did you…wait…where did you run to?" Hana mumbled, glancing both ways down the street in hopes of finding a mysterious black hole.

_Nope…no black hole. Maybe it's just a crazy magic trick._

Kakashi shrugged, adjusting the mask on his face.

"Just around the village."

"T-the _entire_ village?"

_That would take me at least a full minute! Konoha is _huge_!_

"Of course, my flower!" Gai said, flashing her another smile. "I do believe, we shall be setting up a date? I always wanted to go to-"

_"Wait! Kakashi won!"_

_"How? Everyone knows Gai is the quickest ninja in Konoha!"_

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the bickering crowd.

"Looks like you'll have to put a hold on that date, Gai." Kakashi said, watching as Gai's victorious pose melted into a sulk. "Hana? Who won?"

"Um…I have no idea…I couldn't see past the dust." Kakashi gave a final nod and turned to Gai, his eye curved upward. Hana felt her face grow red as the crowd groaned…apparently a few people didn't win their bets. Her eyes landed on Lady Tsunade, who was hanging her head and glaring at the ground in front of her.

_"Who'd you bet on?"_

_"Did anybody bet on a tie?"_

_"Be quiet!"_

The crowd began arguing amongst each other as Gai finally began to pull himself together. He took a deep breath, and for a moment, Hana wondered if he would argue against her judgment.

"Very well, dear flower," he said, frown on his face as he turned to Kakashi. "Arch rival!" Kakashi jumped a little. "That was a fair challenge, that neither of us won or lost. I believe this should mean that we both get a date with my beautiful flower."

There were a few snickers from the crowd as Hana's eyes grew wide.

"Wait a second! Nobody won! It's only if you win that you get a date…Gai, you didn't win." Hana felt the small bit of dread that had settled in her stomach alleviate as she talked herself out of the date, a small smile on her face as Gai's smile fell.

"Very well. Kakashi! Another challenge, then!"

Kakashi shrugged, shoving his hands back into his pockets. "Sure."

Gai put a finger to his chin, staring at Kakashi as he thought of another challenge. The crowd slowly began shrinking until only a few people stuck around to see what the next challenge would be.

He finally threw his hands up in the air.

"I will think about our next challenge, arch rival!" Gai exclaimed, and the last of the crowd disappeared at the anti-climatic response. Kakashi shrugged.

"Well, Hana, that was certainly interesting." Grandma Lee grinned, walking slowly across the street and looking fragile once more.

_Of course. She's as fragile as a chandelier until the second I need help…then she's nowhere to be found._

She stumbled a bit, and before Hana could jump forward to keep her from falling, Kakashi had gripped her shoulders and held her upright until she was balanced on her feet once again. Grandma Lee smiled up at Kakashi before waving to Hana.

"Have a nice day off, dear," she muttered, gripping Kakashi's arm which had been offered out to help her to the flower shop. Hana leaned against the wall of the store, shaking dust off of her shirt and pants as Gai left with a rather loud and embarrassing farewell.

"Finally! I can go back to bed!" Hana exclaimed, walking towards the front door as Grandma Lee shut it behind her.

To Hana's horror, she heard a small click.

_S-she wouldn't. _Hana thought, eyes wide as she reached for the door handle and tugged. She pulled a bit harder until she had to throw her entire body weight against the door…it wouldn't budge. _She did!_

"Granny! Let me in!"

"No!" Hana heard the faint voice of her grandmother, followed by a rather loud cackle. She kicked the door in frustration, crossing her arms and leaning against the door.

_This is exactly why I hate mornings._

Hana heard a small cough from somewhere to her left, and she lazily glanced towards where Kakashi was leaning against the side of the building; his only visible eye filled with amusement.

"You asked her to lock me out, did you?" Hana asked, wondering if she could catch him should he say yes. He shook his head, but that same expression of amusement didn't leave his face.

"Nope. I asked if I could take her lovely granddaughter out for breakfast since my team isn't training today…she simply found a very creative way to say yes." Kakashi said with a chuckle. Hana let her head fall back against the door once again.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep in, am I?" Hana asked, a small smile on her face despite herself as she turned to face Kakashi again. Revenge could wait until later.

"Probably not."

Hana sighed in defeat, biding her warm, welcoming bed goodbye when she looked back up. "Can I pick where we go?"


	7. Embarrassment Galore

**Author's Note: I suppose immense apologies are in order. I'm sorry! I worked on this for a long time, planning out what would happen and after working with it so much I just lost interest. Thanks to Remember-Me-soon, whose kind review prompted me to finish this chapter, at the very least to let you guys know that it hasn't been given up on. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed since my last update (I try to get back to everyone!) and to those who are still willing to read it despite the gap in update times.**

**Flower Girl**

_Embarrassment Galore_

"Would it make me seem like an old man if I told you a story about when I was twenty-something?" Hana was unable to suppress a smile; she loved when one of his stories started like this.

"Yes. But I'd still like to hear it." She grinned at the mock-glare that Hachiro sent her. It didn't last long, and once again he was slouching over the Shoji board with a smile on his face, tan hand poised over the board and he inspected the pieces.

"I used to be a ninja-"

"No way. You never mentioned that before," Hana said in awe, a little louder than she meant to. Hachiro motioned to the board – it had been Hana's turn for a little while now – and she hastily moved one of her smaller pieces to a safer place.

"It was another life," Hachiro shrugged, making a move of his own on the board. "I fell in love with a teammate of mine. She wasn't part of the original team, but..." Hachiro made a motion with his hand, indicating that it didn't really matter.

"What was her name?" Hana asked, inspecting the pieces before her.

"Yuei Muiji. The problem was that I wasn't the only one head over heels for her. I ended up in a challenge with a Jounin over her."

"What rank were you?" Hana finally made a decision and moved a piece, shifting in her chair so she could rest her elbow on the table.

"Chuunin."

Hana let out a short laugh that was most definitely _not_ a snort. "So you had your butt handed to you?" Hana asked with a playful smile.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. But it didn't really matter." Hana raised an eyebrow, waiting for the old man to continue talking. He moved a piece of his on the board and grabbed one of her own pieces and threw it onto the growing pile by his elbow, then settled into silence as he watched the board.

"Why didn't it matter?" Hana prompted. Granny once told her that she acted like a child hearing an adventurous tale for the first time when Hachiro told her stories about his past, but she tried not to let that bother her and leaned forward a bit.

Hachiro's eyes didn't leave the table between them, but his smile widened. "The guy turned out to be a jerk, so after that one date she was done with him. Mind you, back then I was quite the looker and swooped in."

"So you got the girl?" Hana asked, unable to hide her own smile.

"Yep."

"Why do I feel like this story wouldn't have come up if it weren't for the circumstances?" Hana asked, watching Hachiro sit back in his chair and send her a knowing look. The circumstances, of course, being the challenge between Gai and Kakashi.

"There's something I think you could gain from this, tale of mine," Hachiro said, waving his hand flippantly in the air as he thought of the right term.

"And that is...?" Hana prompted.

"I lost the battle, but ended up marrying Yuei. 'Won the war', as your grandmother would say, since she's so fond of adages."

"This is getting really cheesy, Hachiro," Hana said, attempting to pull of a scolding tone.

"But hopefully useful," Hachiro said, moving a piece of his across the board and sitting back with a triumphant smile. "You lose."

xxx

Hana felt her hand swing up to smack her forehead. If things kept going at this rate, she would have a permanent red mark on her face.

_Is this really happening…again? Aren't these two supposed to be fully-grown adults? _Hana found herself, once more, standing in front of Maight Gai and Kakashi Hatake; her hand on her forehead and a few people cheering on the competition behind her. Hana turned to glare at her grandmother, who was cheering for the 'silver-haired fellow'; and Lee, who was cheering on his sensei with too much enthusiasm. There was a few people that Hana had seen around the village, but none other she knew by name.

"I have decided on another challenge, my arch rival!" Gai yelled, his voice as loud as ever. Kakashi looked up to the sky and stuffed a hand into his pocket, staring with a very uninterested expression towards Gai.

"Well, what is it?"

"After a long day of thinking, I do not believe we have ever had a wrestling match!" Hana felt whatever color was in her face drain away. _Wrestling_?

Kakashi shrugged, and the corner of Gai's eye twitched before he glanced around the crowd. Hana felt the need to run back to the flower shop and hide behind the counter when his eyes finally landed on her. As always, a suave smile lit up his face as he flashed his teeth in a grin.

"Have no fear, my precious flower. There will be no ties with this challenge, and nothing to stop me crushing my arch rival and winning a date with you!" A finger was pointed in Hana's direction.

"Um…that's great." Hana felt her face grow red again. _Why does he always have to talk to me like that? It's so embarrassing!_

"So, what are the rules for this…wrestling match?" Kakashi asked, his lazy expression never faltering as his eyes found Gai once again.

"There are to be no weapons used, or using your hands as a weapon. You can only use your strength to grab and force the other into a pin. Winner goes on a date with my flower." _Why can't he ever call me by my name? I _do _have a name!_

Kakashi nodded once and unstrapped the pouch of weapons on his thigh, dropping it to the ground by his feet with a surprisingly loud thud. Gai did the same, though he had quite a bit less weapons than Kakashi. Reaching under their sleeves and in their jackets, Hana gulped when the final knife was dropped to the ground. The piles of weapons at their feet was enough to make anyone, ninja or not, a little nervous.

_They can hide all of those just in their clothing?_ The two Jounin's took a step away from the piles of shuriken and kunai at their feet, Gai crouching down as if he was readying himself to pounce.

"Hana, want to count us down?" Kakashi asked, turning his visible eye to Hana. It curved upward, the only indication that he was smiling.

"Um, sure, I guess." Hana waited a second as Kakashi took on the same pose as Gai. _Will I be able to see who wins this time?_

"Three….Two…One!"

There was a flash of blue and green as Gai leaped towards Kakashi. Even without the dust to cover up their movements, it was nearly impossible to keep up. One second Kakashi would be pinned to the ground, and the next he would have Gai in a headlock.

The small crowd behind her continued to cheer, and Hana rolled her eyes at her grandmother punching the air with a delicate fist.

"Go, you…silver-haired fellow!" she cried out, laughing along with everyone else when the wrestling paused long enough to see Kakashi sitting on Gai's back, the jumpsuit-wearing man's hands held behind his back.

_Kakashi won! _There was an odd sense of relief as the Kakashi-section of the crowd let out a few more cheers. A small voice laughed at her from the back of her mind. _You just want another date with Kakashi._

_I do not!_ Hana thought, her face going red as she focused on the match again. Somehow, Gai had gotten free of Kakashi's hold. A cool breeze swept through the patch of grass they were all standing on, and Hana instinctively wrapped her arms around her stomach; hugging herself as she watched the two 'fully grown adults' wrestle each other to the ground.

"Gai-sensei won!" Lee yelled, punching his fist into the air. Hana watched in amazement as the two finally stopped moving; Gai sitting atop Kakashi's back, holding his arms behind him in a way that looked impossible to get out of. She felt herself deflate a little as Kakashi gave the grip on his arms an experimental tug before letting his head fall a bit.

"Aha!" Gai exclaimed, letting go of Kakashi and jumping off his back before helping him to his feet. "That was a great effort, my arch rival, but I believe I have won this one."

Kakashi mumbled something while he rubbed his shoulder, glancing towards Hana with a shrug and an apologetic smile.

_Please tell me I'm still asleep…this has to be a dream! No! A nightmare! _Hana felt her face glow red again as Gai turned from Kakashi and scanned the crowd of people either gaining or losing money from the outcome of the challenge. His eyes finally found Hana again, standing awkwardly in front of the group with her arms around her stomach, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Well, my dear flower, would tomorrow be a good day for a date? I heard promising things about the weather."

XXXX

"Stop laughing at me." Hana tried to keep some of the childish whining out of her voice, but it was impossible when her grandmother was laughing hysterically at her, clutching the counter with a wrinkly hand to keep her balance. "This isn't funny...it's horrible!"

"You're the one who agreed to this whole 'challenge' thing, dear," Grandma Lee delicately dabbed at her eyes, still giggling and bursting into random fits of laughter every few seconds. "And yes, it is funny," she added.

Hana let her head fall back, groaning when there was a loud knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Grandma Lee brushed past Hana, rushing for the front door. Hana picked at the sleeve of her shirt.

_He's here now...there's no way to get out of this._ She wanted to groan again when Grandma Lee loudly invited him inside.

"My little flower!" Gai exclaimed, stepping over the threshold with the same dramatic air as always. She smiled weakly at him, readying herself for what was sure to be a few hours of pure embarrassment.

_If he's as embarrassing to be around while he's just a customer... _Hana suppressed the urge to shudder when she thought about how he would act at dinner. She had insisted on lunch, seeing as that was more of a 'friendly meal', but Gai had decided on a 'romantic' dinner and held onto that like a dog to its bone. Though his version of 'deciding' was to pout and all-but through a tantrum until Hana was forced to let him have his way.

"Are you ready to go?" Gai managed to look both polite for Grandma Lee, and still have that suave smile plastered on his face as he winked at Hana.

"You two have a good time," Grandma Lee pushed them out onto the street, locking the door behind them with a loud and final click. Hana glared at the closed door before Gai grabbed her hand and pulled her down the street.

"Gai-sensei!" They had barely made it a few feet away from the store when Lee, Gai's student, came bouncing down the street; skidding to a halt with his hand raised in a solute.

"Hello, Lee," Gai stopped, holding Hana's hand tightly in his when she tried to tug it free from his grasp. Sighing in defeat, she settled for trying to hide behind him. "I can't stay and chat-" he pulled Hana out from behind him just as she was completely hidden from view and holding their hands in the air "-I'm on a date!"

The triumph in his voice and the pure volume attracted the attention of the innocent villagers passing by; most merely glanced and walked away, but a few seemed to know them and stopped to talk.

"Alright, Gai!" A man with light brown hair down to his shoulders stood next to Lee, a long needle held between his teeth as he smiled at the two. "You finally got a date out of her?"

Gai nodded, holding their hands up in the air again. "That I did, Genma."

It was obvious that Genma was trying to pass off his laughter as some coughing, but no one except Hana seemed to notice. She tried inching behind Gai again when a few more people stopped. She felt the blood rush to her face when a shorter man craned his neck to see where Hana was hiding. Crowds were definitely not her thing, and especially when she was being paraded around like something won at a carnival booth.

"Really?" The word was cut off by a fit of coughing. Hana peaked out from around Gai's shoulder, smiling weakly at the purple-haired girl who was giving her a pitied look. "So am I." Hana inched out further, seeing that the man coughing was holding the girls hand, smiling as he seemed to pull himself together.

"You finally gave in?" Genma asked, smiling cheekily at the girl. She rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"One date can't hurt," she explained. A few people seemed to disappear by the time Hana peaked out from behind Gai's back again.

"Anyway!" Gai's sudden outburst made a few people jump. "I have a date to go on. I will let you all know how it goes," Gai dragged Hana back out from behind him and set off down the street.

She groaned, trying hard to ignore the stares of the villagers as Gai practically burst through a crowd of shoppers. _This is going to be a _long _date._

_xx_

Hana shut the door behind her quietly, wondering if she would be able to sneak home and into bed unnoticed. She took a few steps forward, staying on her tiptoes as she tested the floors.

_A little squeaky, but not too bad. _Hana took another few steps towards the door behind the counter. _It's not too far to my room. I bet Granny is already asleep._

Hana reached for the doorknob a heard a cough from behind the counter. She must have jumped a good few feet off the ground when Grandma Lee emerged from behind the counter; a wide grin on her face.

"You're a little past your curfew," she said in a singy-song voice; her fluffy eyebrows raised as she smiled mischievously at her granddaughter.

Hana rolled her eyes.

"I'm twenty-four, Granny, you can't really give me a curfew." _She's really gone senile this time._

Grandma Lee shrugged and brushed some imaginary dust off the counter.

"I suppose I can over look it…just this once." Hana rolled her eyes again and went to grab the doorknob. The dreaded question came right as Hana opened the door. "How was your date?"

There was a knowing grin on Grandma Lee's face as she clasped her wrinkled hands in front of her, looking almost gleeful as Hana slowly turned back to face her.

_Damn, if I make a run for it I'll never hear the end of it._ Hana reluctantly let go of the doorknob.

"Embarrassing."

Grandma Lee raised an eyebrow, wordlessly prompting Hana for more details. Somehow, this felt more like an interrogation than a friendly chat with her grandmother. Hana sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"He told _everyone _we saw that we were on a date. He actually interrupted other people's conversations to let them know we were on a date. It was so…embarrassing." Hana rubbed her forehead. She had lost track of how many times she had slapped it since leaving the house with Gai on their 'date', and it was still feeling rather sore.

Grandma Lee chuckled and shook her head. Hana raised her eyebrow.

"You think it's funny that it was embarrassing? You know how much I hate crowds, and Gai seemed to be attracted to them." The old bushy-browed lady shook her head; a grin still on her face when she looked up at her granddaughter.

"I'm surprised that you haven't noticed what all of this is doing to you."

Hana's eyes widened in surprise.

_What this is doing to me?_ She suddenly felt a little suspicious of the conversation and where Granny Lee was directing it, and watched her grandmother's face carefully. "What does that mean?"

"Before you met that obnoxious loud-mouth and that silver-haired fellow, you wouldn't talk to anyone, let alone go out in public with someone and talk to them." There was an amused smile on her face that was frankly very annoying to Hana.

_I haven't changed a bit!_

Grandma Lee chuckled again.

"Well, you still wear those annoying bandages and are a little clumsy, but whether you've noticed it or not, you have changed."

Hana crossed her arms over her chest, wanting to deny this fact once again, but found that she couldn't_.… Maybe she's right._

"Of course I'm right! I'm glad you had a good night, and next time I want you home by curfew." Grandma Lee pointed a threatening finger towards Hana before brushing past her and through the door, shutting it behind her and leaving Hana in the semi-dark flower shop.

Hana scowled at the closed door.

_I do not have a curfew, you crazy old lady._

Hana cursed her grandmother's ability to all-but read her mind as she leaned against the counter, letting out a long breath that made the strands of hair in front of her face billow out before landing on her nose. She brushed it out of the way and followed her grandmother towards the back of the store, and to her bedroom.

"Stupid Granny. Stupid Gai. Stupid challenges." Hana muttered to herself, peeling the long-sleeved shirt off of her before rummaging through a pile of clean, folded clothes for another one. Hana quickly unwrapped the bandages from around her arms, setting the white straps of cloth on top of her desk before tossing herself down onto her bed.

After a long day of working in the shop and an exhausting date with Maight Gai, it didn't take long for Hana to suddenly lose all feeling of her body; black eating at the edges of her vision as she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

"So…how was it?" Hana felt whatever small smile she had on her face fall. She had heard that question many times, and most of the people she didn't even know! Kakashi leaned against the counter, his eye curved up as he smiled behind his mask.

Hana placed the bouquet of purple and dark blue flowers she was putting together on the counter, giving Kakashi a small glare that wasn't nearly as crippling as she wanted it to be.

_Of course, he _had _to bring it up._ Hana thought bitterly. _Now, do I tell him the truth or tell him what I've been telling everyone else to make the conversation end as soon as possible?_

"Embarrassing," she finally spit it out, picking up the flowers once again and keeping her eyes glued to the task at hand.

"Embarrassing?" Kakashi asked, an eyebrow raised as he watched Hana shuffle around behind the counter, putting together the small arrangement of flowers. "How so?"

Hana let out a small laugh, her dark blue eyes darting up to Kakashi before she went back to wrapping the arrangement of flowers in a light blue paper.

"He told _everybody _that we were on a date."

Kakashi shrugged a bit. "I wouldn't put it past him."

Hana glanced back up at Kakashi, gauging his response.

"He interrupted other peoples dates, just to tell them that we were on a date. I don't think he even knew half of them, but he just went right along and interrupted their conversations."

Kakashi laughed, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he glanced around the store. "Yeah, I guess I could see that too."

The back door swung open and Grandma Lee backed into the store, some papers clutched in one hand and a few bright orange flowers in the other. She slapped the papers down on the counter, and Hana picked them up with a groan.

"Just a few more orders to finish up," Grandma Lee said, smiling politely to Kakashi before turning to put the bright orange flowers away. Hana picked up the stack of papers and flipped through them.

The little old woman came back to stand behind the counter.

"Would I be able to steal your granddaughter for another date once she's finished with those?" Kakashi asked, motioning with a gloved hand towards the papers that were now spread out over the counter. Hana's head shot up as she looked between the two. Grandma Lee gave Hana a smug smile before turning back to Kakashi.

"Of course you may."

Hana raised her eyebrow when Kakashi turned back to her, his eye curved as he smiled behind his mask.

"Not even asking me anymore?" Hana asked, a small smile tugging at her lips as she went to grab a handful of bright yellow sunflowers.

_As if you would say no! _A small voice laughed at her.

Kakashi leaned against the counter again, hands jammed into his pockets. He shrugged, that smile never leaving his face as he watched her race around the store, grabbing a myriad of flowers and before too long, multiple bouquets laid on the counter.

"Done," Hana said, a hint of triumph in her voice and minimal blushing as he handed the papers back to her grandmother. "Bye, Granny."

Hana moved to leave the counter, but a wrinkled hand held the sleeve of her shirt in a death grip. After a couple of tugs on the fabric, Hana sighed and turned around.

"Change out of that grimy shirt, girl!"

Hana rolled her eyes, but went through the back door and followed the small hallway down towards her bedroom. She took off her shirt, wondering exactly how her grandmother could deem it 'grimy', but tossed it in the dirty-clothes hamper anyway. When she came back into the store, clad in a long-sleeved 'clean' shirt, she was thankful that Grandma Lee was busy helping a customer; and she was able to dodge out of the store before she had caught a glimpse of her.

"Why is she against you wearing those shirts?" Kakashi asked, motioning towards the plain black shirt Hana was wearing. She shrugged, mumbling an excuse that sounded lame even to her. She let Kakashi lead the way through the town, unsure where they were going, or where they even were.

"Have you been to Ichiraku's?" Kakashi asked as he stopped in front of a small ramen stand. Hana shook her head.

Kakashi's hands were shoved back in his pockets.

"In the mood for ramen?"

"Sure."

_I'm not even really that hungry_, Hana thought, ignoring that small voice in the back of her head that laughed at her as she followed Kakashi into the ramen stand.

* * *

"I suppose I should be getting you back home," Kakashi drawled, pushing the empty bowl of ramen away before handing the rather large chef behind the counter the money. Hana thanked the man who had given them their food before following Kakashi out of the stand, wondering exactly when it had acquired so many customers. It had been fairly empty on their way in, but sometime through their idly conversation, it had become more and more busy.

"Yeah, Granny has decided to give me an imaginary curfew," Hana laughed, watching as her breath turned to smoke in the chilly air.

"Aren't you a little old for curfews?" Kakashi asked, head cocked to the side as he led them back down the streets they had come.

Hana shrugged. "That's what I told-"

A door opened, and before Hana could figure out what was happening, three ninjas in green flak vests stumbled out onto the street, sniggering and stumbling. One of them stopped in front of the two, and surged forward, clutching onto Kakashi's shoulders like a lifeline.

_Ugh! I can smell the alcohol from here! _Hana took a step back, watching with a bit of amusement as the other two following him tried to turn around, only to fall into each other.

"Bit early for drinking, don't you think, Genma?" The man clutching Kakashi's shoulders tried to shrug, letting go of one shoulder long enough to pull a rather long looking needle out from his vest and stick it in his mouth. He grinned at Kakashi, swaying a little as his eyes tried to focus. After a moment, Hana recognized him from the street, though she hadn't gotten a good look at him since she was trying to hide behind Gai.

"I'm not drunk, he is!" Genma spun, dragging Kakashi forward with him in his haste to point out a sickly looking ninja who was currently clutching the door, afraid to let go in case he fell. Hana hadn't caught his name the day before, but it was the coughing ninja who dated the purple-haired girl.

"Hayate," Kakashi greeted, earning a small, nervous smile in reply as the man finally let go of the door and tested his legs with a few steps. He seemed to calm down a bit knowing that he was able to walk.

"Well, as great as this little run-in was, I have to be going," Kakashi said quickly, shrugging off Genma's death grip on his shoulder. Genma shrugged and turned, gripping onto Hayate's shoulder instead.

"You! Y-you have a good night!" Genma yelled over his shoulder, pointing a finger in Kakashi's direction as Hayate pulled him down the street along with the other two. Hana chuckled when Kakashi finally came back to stand beside her, staring at their retreating unstable figures.

"Will they be okay?" Hana asked when one of them stumbled into the wall of another store.

"Hayate will get them all home okay." An arm wound its' way over Hana's shoulders and guided her away from the mass of stumbling and giggling ninja, turning down a street that she faintly remembered seeing.

"Well, I think Gai has an interesting challenge planned for tomorrow, so I guess I should go get some shut-eye," Kakashi said, removing his arm from around Hana's shoulders with a small smile when they stopped in front of the path that lead through the small garden to her front door. She suppressed a shiver at the sudden rush of cold air around her, and felt her arms wrap around her stomach.

"What does he have planned this time?" Hana asked, wondering what could possibly come after that… interesting wrestling match.

"I think he mentioned Shogi," Kakashi shrugged. "But I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early for the match." Hana rolled her eyes.

_Do I _have _to get up early?_ Her inner-voice whined; but Hana ignored it and nodded.

"Goodn-" Hana muttered with a smile as she reached for the handle and opened the door, shocked when the knob gave way before she even put the key in.

_Wait… it's never unlocked._ Hana felt her heart leap into her throat as she pulled her hand away from the doorknob, something warm and sticky on her hand.

"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked as Hana pulled her hand up to her face, inspecting the red liquid that stained her skin.

_Blood!_ Hana pushed the door open, feeling her hand slip against the wood.

The shop was dark, but not pitch-black. Enough light filtered in from the light over the backdoor…enough so she didn't have to guess what was on the far wall. The deep red splash stood out against the pale-colored walls. Her eyes widened, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her behind him as he pulled a large kunai knife out from his vest.

Panic struck through Hana's chest, leaving an ache in it's path as she stood rooted in her spot, looking around the shop for any more signs of blood. It felt like her senses were on full alert and she nearly jumped out of her skin when something crunched when Kakashi moved forward. The flowers and vases on the nearest shelf had been knocked to the ground, glass and crushed flowers littering the floor.

"Stay here, I'm going to check the back and make sure no one's there," Kakashi said, his voice echoing through the small store, sending shivers up Hana's spine before she was able to nod. She heard the back door open and Kakashi disappeared.

Another sickening jolt passed through Hana, immobilizing her.

_I need to breath_, she thought to herself, chanting the words in her head as she fought through a lump in her throat for air.

When her head finally stopped spinning, another jolt went through her that seemed to paralyze her even more. _Where's Granny?_

Hana's feet were moving of their own accord now, dashing around the store to check under counters and in the corners.

_Maybe she hid and is scared that whoever did this is still here._

Hana let out a breath of air when she finally saw the large tuft of gray hair under the front counter. Feeling seemed to return to her limbs and it felt like her heart started beating again.

"Grandma? It's okay, it's just me."

Hana felt another ache in her chest, and her feet started moving of their own accord again. She felt something warm against her knees as she ran forward and fell to the ground, ignoring the icy hand that gripped her stomach as she reached forward.

_It's okay, she'll wake up when she realizes it's okay to come out._

"Grandma?" Hana felt the word shake as she gripped Grandma Lee's shoulder, purposefully ignoring the smears of blood across her dress and the dark stain on her stomach. She jumped back in shock as Grandma Lee's head fell backwards, mouth open and eyes shut.

"Hana?"

She jumped at her own name, and felt a hand on her shoulder as Kakashi tried to pull her away.

_She's dead!_

Hana's throat was closed off again as a sob stole her air.

_She can't be._

Hana was pulled to her feet, faintly aware of something warm wrapping around her shoulders, forcing her to look at a green vest instead of….

_Grandma! Who could possibly hurt her?_

Something clicked in her mind as another sob finally broke through the lump in her throat, and she was able to breath long enough to choke out a word. "Yuukan."

Hana wiped the tears on her cheeks off with the back of her hand, setting the crippling panic aside as rage suddenly tore through her veins. The warmth around her disappeared, and through the haze of red she could see Kakashi holding her at arm's length, his mouth moving.

_Why can't I hear him?_

"Yuukan did this." Hana took a steadying breath and glanced around, unable to hear Kakashi's words that sounded like they were in a different language.

Hana felt her body moving by itself again, moving faster than she had ever remembered moving before. Her hand jutted out and pushed Kakashi back, breaking his grip on her shoulders so she was able to spin on her heels and she was out the door. Cold air pushed her hair out of her face; she didn't know the village very well, but her mind picked a direction, and her body ran.

Hana could feel the familiar chakra behind her; Kakashi was following close behind, yelling something that she couldn't hear. She was still shocked at the speed she was going. The short distance she had covered made her legs ache, but like picking up an old art, she pushed chakra into her feet, propelling her faster and faster down the street.

Kakashi felt a stream of curse words flow out of his mouth.

_A civilian shouldn't be able to run this fast! _Kakashi thought, watching the blur of Hana's legs take her down the street towards the front of the village. There was a surge of chakra that had been familiar – it was Hana's chakra – but he had never felt it in this sort of quantity. The large arch in the front of the village was coming into view fast, and Kakashi pushed his mind to think up a plan. He wasn't sure what was going through Hana's mind, but if she was able to move that fast then he needed to be ready for anything unexpected. She had mentioned a name before she ran, did that mean she was after him or getting away from him? There was a lot of unknown information that made Kakashi feel uneasy about rushing into a possible trap without backup. _The gate-guards!_

"Izumo! Kotetsu!" He yelled, stopping in front of the stand where the two ninja were seated. Izumo jolted forward, eyes wide as he watched the blur of red hair disappear through the gates.

"What the…," Kotetsu muttered, turning to look at Kakashi with wide eyes.

"Just follow me!" Kakashi yelled, disappearing after Hana and forming a plan when the chakra's of Kotetsu and Izumo began to follow.

"What the hell is going on?" Kotetsu asked; the weapons-master drawing a curved sword from its' sheath as he leaped from branch to branch. Izumo was staring at Kakashi with the same expression.

_What _is _going on?_ Kakashi asked himself, quickly explaining the situation to the two as the movement ahead of him finally stopped. He wasn't sure how far he expected her to run, but he figured another few miles and they would surround her, effectively stopping her from wherever she was going without harming anyone who could be in the area. That plan now appeared to be out the window.

The three ninjas skidded to a halt in a small clearing. Hana stood with a kunai clutched in her hand in the middle of the clearing, scanning the bushes around her. Her shoulders were shaking, and Kakashi picked up the scent of blood and salt on her – tears.

"Hana, we need to go back. We can figure out who did this-"

"You can't hide from me, Yuukan!" Hana growled, her jaw clenched as she whipped around to look behind her, tear streaks down her cheeks indicating that his nose was right.

Kakashi opened his mouth to talk again, attempting to calm the irate Hana in front of him.

"And you can't fight me, Hana." Kakashi's mouth snapped shut as he drew another kunai, spinning to face the source of the voice and searching for a chakra signal that didn't appear to be there until Kakashi began searching intently for it. A man stepped out from behind a tree, a smug smile on his face as Hana shifted in front of Kakashi. Izumo and Kotetsu stood towards the edge of the clearing; weapons drawn and eyes wide.

Hana took in the mans' appearance. There was a smear of blood across his chest and a few splatters on his cheek. The reddish-brown hair that hung in front of his dark blue eyes was dripping with sweat, but by his smile he didn't appear to be put off by any of this.

_I'll kill him for this!_

His smile grew as the growl tore through Hana's teeth. That smirk struck irritation through her like it had so many times before.

"Long time, no see, little sister."


	8. Secrets

**AN: Thanks to everyone in general! The response to the updates have been great, and have been keeping me very motivated to not let this story slide back to the back burner again. I'm almost done with the next chapter already, so there's no worries about that one taking too long! : ) Again, feel free to point out errors! I haven't been able to get in touch with my usual beta so I've just been very diligent about rereading through these before posting them. So! Any critic is very helpful! Or, you know...reviews of any kind!**

* * *

**Flower Girl**

_Secrets_

* * *

Hana felt rage tear through her veins, blinding her as her older brother let out a chuckle, opening his arms invitingly as he leaned down to her eye level.

"What are you going to do, Hana…kill me?" There was an amusement in his eyes that made Hana's blood boil. A growl slipped through her clenched teeth that sounded alien to her ears. It only served to widen his smirk.

"That's the plan."

She lunged forward, feeling her body take over as the well-practice moves took her from the middle of the clearing to Yuukan. She could faintly hear Kakashi yelling something from behind her, but she ignored it; her fist connecting with a satisfying smack on his chest. Just when Hana felt like her brother's guard was low enough to spin, she aimed a kick at his side. She collided with the ground seconds later, feeling the air knocked out of her lungs as Yuukan stood up straighter with that infuriating omnipresent smirk on his face.

"What the hell are you doing, Hana?" Kakashi yelled, appearing by Hana's side and hauling her to her feet. An amused chuckle burst from Yuukan's mouth as he formed three quick hand-signs.

The fingers that were gripping Hana's shoulders were torn away as a chakra shield forced Kakashi back towards the edge of the clearing with Kotetsu and Izumo. Blue sparks flew as Kotetsu impulsively stabbed the shield with his curved knife, but it only served to knock his back several feet. The three gave the blue-tinted shield some experimental hits and jabs before Kakashi finally lifted the hiate-ate, revealing the twirling Sharingan.

Hana pushed everything outside of the shield her brother had created out of her mind, her eyes turning back to face him. There was that damned smirk again. He was older now by several years. His jaw looked more square and his nose a bit longer, but that aura of confidence continued to radiate off of him.

"Why are you here?" Hana asked, her throat sore as she sucked in air, her lungs still working through the solid kick to her chest that had sent her flying to the ground.

"I finally found you." A long, thin sword was drawn from Yuukan's sleeve; and he shifted it between his blood-stained hands as his eyes looked at her through the pieces of dark red hair. "That old hag did a good job of hiding you, but you stayed in one place for too long this time. You know you can't escape this."

Instead of panic, a new determination set itself in Hana's mind as she widened her stance, gripping the kunai until her knuckles turned white. She saw the tall figure of Kotetsu slip around the clearing behind Yuukan, and Kakashi slid into her peripheral vision.

_They're surrounding him. But it'll be useless unless they can get through the barrier. _Hana's mind twirled with information that she knew about the jutsu, but she had never come across a way through the barrier that didn't take more than twenty minutes.

"You _will _be punished for what you did." There was a grave-tone in his voice, as if he was almost guilty of what he was going to do…but the smirk on his face and happy, twinkling eyes said differently.

"I didn't do-"

"SHUT UP!" The roar echoed through the forest, but Hana was too occupied with the furious kicks and punches that landed hard on her arms and legs to pay attention. She was barely able to keep up with his speed, how had he gotten so fast? The stench of blood and sweat made Hana want to puke, but she pushed the bile in her throat aside as she fought back, lashing out with the kunai whenever she found an opening.

A sudden pain to Hana's shoulder told her that he had finally landed a solid punch, and she knocked the sword out of his hands the moment it came into sight. She jumped away, nearly stumbling on her landing as she clutched her shoulder. She rolled it, and a stab of pain surged through her.

_I'll get over it,_ Hana thought, rolling it again and setting the pain aside as she turned to face Yuukan again. She could control her reaction to the pain, but her eyes watered of their own accord in fury. She had never been strong enough to fight him before and he was enjoying the fact that she still couldn't.

"What the hell is going on?" Izumo asked, his voice carrying through the shield as he turned his confused eyes to Kakashi.

Yuukan's smirk widened as he drew a shuriken.

"Been hiding something from your boyfriend, Hana?" Yuukan asked, _tsk_ing as he drew another shuriken and spun it with expertise between his fingers. Hana's glare hardened.

_I've only been hiding what's necessary to hide! _Hana wanted to yell, but her lungs were already screaming for more air as she panted.

"I bet you didn't tell him you're a ninja!" Yuukan yelled loud enough to be heard through the buzz of the barrier, his dark blue eyes dancing with delight as he let the two shuriken twirling on his fingertips fly. Hana ignored whatever reaction Kakashi had even though her immediate instinct told her to look at him, blocking the two shuriken with a few quick flicks of her wrist.

"Or that you ran away from home with that old hag because you're too scared to face the consequences of what you did!" Hana hardly saw the kunai being pulled from Yuukan's pocket before they were flying in her direction. She dove out of the way, gasping at the pain in her shoulder as she rolled, landing in a sloppy crouch.

Yuukan let out a hysterical laugh, drawing multiple shuriken as his eyes scanned the three ninja outside the field.

"You'll want to hear this one!" Yuukan pointed towards Kakashi, who was already staring at him with a glare as his Sharingan continued to spin. "I bet you didn't tell him what you did to mom!"

"I didn't do-"

"You killed her!"

Hana felt one of the shuriken hit her arm as she tried to dive out of the way, knocking her off balance and sending her tumbling to the ground. She quickly pulled the shuriken out of her upper arm, breathing between clenched teeth as she gasped for breath. A pale hand grabbed the collar of her shirt; the stench of blood and sweat becoming overwhelming as she was lifted from her knees. She kept her eyes on his, seeing part of her blood-covered reflection.

A breeze floated through the blue-tinted shield, picking up leaves and twigs as the wind began to pick up. The hand let go of her shirt, and Hana fell; reaching out to brace herself… but there was no ground.

_Damn, a genjutsu! _Hana watched as Kakashi was ripped from her view; everything becoming a twirling blur of leaves and the blue-tinted chakra shield.

"What's happening?" Izumo asked, keeping his voice just above a whisper. There was no more movement inside the shield, but Hana was still suspended in the air by her shirt.

Kakashi shook his head to clear his mind, tearing his eyes away from the two to glance at Izumo and Kotetsu; both with weapons pulled and ready to attack the moment the shield was down.

"I'm not sure," Kakashi whispered, his eyes darting back to where Hana stared, fixated on Yuukan's face. The small movement of her breathing was the only thing that assured him that Hana was alive. "But I have a theory of how to break through this barrier."

"She's in a genjutsu," Kotetsu whispered, eyes wide as he watched her muscles start twitching. Her fingers curled into fists and her eyes widened; her mouth gaping open in a silent scream that drew shivers down the chuunin's spine. Finally, with a thud, Yuukan released his grip on her shirt and Hana plummeted to the ground. With shaky hands, Hana pushed herself back onto her knees, glaring up at Yuukan.

"We have to get in there!" Izumo shouted to the other two when Yuukan retreated to the other side of the clearing to fetch his sword. When he turned back around, his jaw was set and his eyes were fixated on his little sister. All humor and excitement was gone, replaced with determination.

Izumo and Kotetsu began to beat the shield with their weapons; the metal bouncing harmlessly off the surface with blue sparks as Yuukan stepped towards Hana. Kakashi, however, stood completely still, the Sharingan spinning rapidly as he formed several hand signs. Her breath was cut off when a pale hand reached past the ruffled collar and gripped her throat, hauling her back up to Yuukan's gaze.

Clutching onto his hand, Hana kicked out at Yuukan's legs. She connected several times, but it didn't appear to have an effect on him.

_I just need to buy Kakashi more time_, Hana thought, realizing as the butt of Yuukan's sword was jabbed into her stomach that she didn't have much time left. The fury that had fueled Hana earlier vanished, leaving her feeling pathetically vulnerable and stupid for rushing into something so completely unprepared. She could faintly hear the sounds of the ninja beating on the shield.

Hana gasped as the hand around her throat tightened and the tip of Yuukan's sword poked her stomach.

"How could you kill her?" Hana choked on the words; not only from the hand to her throat, but the lump that had made it hard to breath since she had first grabbed the bloody doorknob. Blood splashed across Yuukan's smirking face as Hana struggled to cough, the metallic taste filling Hana's mouth and nose.

"How could you kill mom?" he hissed back, gripping her throat tighter until Hana was sure she would never be able to breath again. She struggled to shake her head, or even keep her eyes open long enough to glare at him. The blue shield that surrounded the two disappeared from Hana's sight as black shadows began eating at her vision.

_No! Stay conscious!_

Hana continued to claw at Yuukan's hand, her fingertips warm from the blood that flowed freely down his arm. His jaw was set and his eyes hardened as he watched her struggle.

Kakashi finally moved, and grabbed a kunai from his hip pouch. Gripping the weapon in his hand tighter, he stabbed into the chakra field just below hip-level, feeling an immense amount of resistance before the entire thing began to waver.

The moment it was down, Kakashi leaped into the clearing and scanned the area; Yuukan was gone, but Hana was still there.

"Track him!" Kakashi yelled, listening as Kotetsu and Izumo charged through the forest after him.

Kakashi stared at Hana's body, unable to breath as he stepped forward and knelt down beside her. He gripped her shoulders and gave a small shake. She let out a weak cough, gasping in as much air as she could.

"Hana? Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, inspecting her for any serious injury. She let out a long breath, her eyes remaining unopened as her head lolled to the side.

* * *

_Beep… …. Beep… …. Beep… …._

Things started to float back into place. Grandma Lee… the fight… the-

_Ugh! The searing pain in my head!_ Hana moved to curl herself into a protective ball, clutching at her head as if her skull would fall apart at any second.

_Beep… … Beep… Beep… Beep… BEEP… BEEP…_

"Ugh! Shut up!"

Something was holding onto her arm; wrapping it's cold fingers around her elbow to keep her from moving to hold her head. Hana could feel her brain beating against her skull, turning her black vision a searing white.

Along with the beeps, there was a pained whimper.

_Why can't everything just shut up!_ Hana thought, using a jolt of adrenaline to rip her arm away from the icy cold grip around her arm. There was a sharp pain to the inside of her elbow, but at least she was free to hold her head.

The whimpering continued along with the beeping, getting louder and louder until Hana was sure her head couldn't take anymore of the noises.

"Hana! You have to calm down!" A pair of hands grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to lay back. She let out a groan, the pounding in her head made it hard to decipher the voice that was muttering something to her. The beeping grew louder again as her heart started to beat faster; a dull ache in her chest only added to the panic that was racing through her mind.

_What had happened? Did Yuukan kill me? Was everyone else alright?_ For the first time since the fight, Hana regretted going after Yuukan alone. She shouldn't have let all that uncharacteristic fury control her… and now everyone knew about her-

Kakashi!

What would he think of her now? A lying, murderous ninja who had gotten herself killed by her own brother. If she could hang her head in shame… she would have. But the pain that seared through her head made her loose her entire train of thought.

The beeping rang louder in her ears and the whimpering started again. Why wouldn't it stop?

* * *

_Beep… …. Beep… …. Beep… …._

Kakashi sat with his back to the wall, head tossed back to look up at the florescent lights that tried to burn his eyes. But he kept them open. As exhausted as he was, and as much as he wanted to sleep… he couldn't.

He had expected his mind to conjure up every kind of question possible once they had arrived back at Konoha, but the moment his back had hit the wall outside of Hana's hospital room, he slid to the ground and his mind refused to think. It had been a long time since someone had managed to make him feel foolish, the feeling was almost foreign.

_Beep… …. Beep… …. Beep… …._

Every _beep_ was a heartbeat; slow and quiet, but steady nonetheless.

_She's alive._

One broken arm, one dislocated shoulder, multiple stab-wounds that narrowly missed her vital organs, and a head wound that had the doctor cringing… and her heart continued to beat. Not to mention any mental damage that could have been done during the time Hana was caught in the genjutsu. She had been tired from just the run to find Yuukan, and ran on pure rage until the time that his chakra-shield had gone down.

Kakashi raised his arms; resting his elbows on his knees as his head fell forward to rest on his hands.

_How could I have not known? I'm surrounded by shinobi every single day, and I didn't catch a single sign that she was a ninja. No unusual amount of chakra, no unusual strength… she had seemed to… usual._

Kakashi shook his head. _Usual isn't a good word for her._ A few questions trickled into his mind.

_How could she not tell me?_ Kakashi thought; hearing the hurt and betrayal in his own thoughts as clear as day.

_We all have secrets._

_But why did she feel the need to lie to everyone about it?_

The question lingered in his mind, unanswered as his head hit the wall again.

_I'll ask her when she wakes up._

_Beep… …. Beep… …. Beep… …._

Kakashi went back to listening to the monitor beside her bed, chanting the sound in his mind. As long as that sound kept going, Hana was going to be okay. A small smile tugged at the corner of Kakashi's mouth underneath his mask.

_She'll be okay._

_Beep… …. Beep… …. Beep… …._

A gentle whimper sounded from inside the room, and in the blink of an eye Kakashi was on his feet, standing outside the closed door and waiting for any other sound.

_Was she waking up?_

_Beep… … Beep… Beep… Beep… _

There was another groan, this one much louder.

Hana sat hunched over with her head cradled in her hands, a pained whimper emitting from her as she rocked back and forth. Kakashi faintly remembered a door being in his way at one point.

He stood awkwardly beside her and pressed the red button beside her bed that would call one of the nurses.

In a flash, Hana's hand went to her arm, gripping the tubes hooking her up to the IV and blood before yanking them out with a pained yelp. Kakashi's eyes went wide as he made a grab for her arm to stop her, but Hana tossed the tubes to the side to resume her previous position of hugging her head.

Kakashi was pulled back, barely aware of the people that had swarmed the bed. Hana was pushed back onto the bed, fighting against the hands with any ounce of energy her frenzied mind could find.

"Hana, you need to calm down," one of the nurses said, rubbing Hana's non-dislocated shoulder. She didn't seem to be calming down; if anything, her thrashes became more violent, and her whimpers louder. The nurse shook her head, mouthing to another one who nodded and pulled a small syringe out of nowhere.

Kakashi watched over their shoulders as they stabbed the needle into her arm.

Her body went limp again, but the same pained expression remained.

Unable to move, Kakashi watched as parts of the conversation between the nurses flew over his head.

"Excuse me?" Someone asked, gripping Kakashi's shoulder and dragging his attention away from where they seemed to be injecting something into the tubes connected to Hana. He shook his head… what had they been talking about?

"Yes?" Kakashi grimaced… his voice sounded horrible. In his vigil outside of the room, he had refused all offers of food and water, barely aware of the burning need for both until now. The nurse was giving him a pitying look… which he ignored.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you a relative?" one of the younger nurses asked.

"Um, no."

"Then you need to at least leave the room," the nurse said, motioning to the door. "Visiting hours start at 6:30 tomorrow morning. You can come back in then if you'd like."

Kakashi nodded and left the nurses to putter around the bed and slowly leave the room one by one. He sat in one of the empty chairs across the hallway and his hand automatically grabbed the familiar book from his vest pocket, flipping it open and skimming through the words. After reading through over half of the book, he glanced up at the small clock on the wall: _11:43_. He rubbed his masked-face and sighed.

_It's been over a day._ He suppressed a yawn. Over a day ago, Kakashi had sat himself outside of the room, determined to not move a muscle until Hana walked out of the hospital. He suppressed another yawn as he rested his chin in his hand.


	9. Precautions

**AN: I just wanted to throw out a nice thank you to everyone who is still supporting this fic! :) The reviews have been so nice and they're a nice kick in the right direction whenever I'm having trouble writing out a scene. Also, Catdemon-Ninja needs a giant thank you! S/he's the one who went through the first version and told me what seriously needed to be changed, and I have to say that this next version is what it is because of her criticism! Thanks. : )**

**By the way, the new story image was a piece of fan art drawn by me a long time ago, around the time that the first version of this came to an end! If anyone wants the link to the regular-sized piece - cause it's not nearly as blurry! - just review or PM me and I can send it over.  
**

* * *

**Flower Girl**

_Precautions_

* * *

Hana had been awake for a while, but didn't let it show. As the nurses came and went she just lay in bed with her eyes shut, hoping to either fall back asleep or for the noises to stop. Her head still pounded at the drop of a pin, and she had to consciously stop herself from grimacing when one of the nurses dropped what sounded like a paper bomb, though it was likely just a book or clipboard.

She had entirely lost track of time while feigning sleep, and kept from getting restless by controlling her chakra and keeping her breathing and heartbeat slow and steady – enough to fool any of the nurses who checked her vital signs.

Everything seemed to be going fine, but Hana knew that eventually she would have to wake up, or at least make it clear to the nurses that she was awake. The thought was terrifying. What would happen? Would they make sure that she wasn't going to die, then boot her out of the village? Or perhaps imprison her for life? While her thoughts were on keeping her illusion of sleep up, she couldn't stop her mind from whirling at all of the possibilities. Would she be facing horrible charges?

Then her thoughts seem to take a turn for the darker side. What if they blamed her for everything Yuukan did? Would she be sentences for the death of Granny Lee?

At the thought, Hana decided that she had kept her illusion up long enough. She needed something to do other than let her thoughts stew, so after she made sure that there was no one in the room, she experimentally shifted her hands.

Something cold and hard was wrapped around her wrist, and kept her arm from moving more than a few inches. But the other one was free to move.

Hana's eyes flew open – wincing at the bright lights that shone into her eyes – before noticing that she was indeed chained to the bed. All hopes of being set free from Konoha seemed to flee her, leaving her to sink back into her pillow in defeat.

"I think it's more of a precaution after the sedation incident." The voice startled Hana so much so that she yelped, feeling immediately embarrassed by her reaction when she looked up to see Kakashi sitting in one of the chairs not far from her bed, an orange book in hand and a curve to his eye as an indication of his smile.

"The what?" Hana asked, her voice feeling incredibly hoarse and alien to her.

"The sedation incident," he repeated, calmly turning a page in his book. Hana had been _so sure_ that the room was empty, how did she miss that someone was sitting right beside her? "You woke up while they were treating you and knocked out a nurse. You got a good few hits into another nurse before they were able to sedate you."

His eyes were glued to the book before him and if Hana could deflate a little more, she would have. He wasn't even looking at her. That had to be a horrible sign.

"I'm sorry." Finally, Kakashi turned to look at her. Hana expected to see something akin to hate, judgment, or cruel satisfaction at her predicament. Instead he simply smiled. She shifted in slight discomfort, the sound of the handcuff rubbing against the rail along the side of the bed made her ears ache and her head pound for a moment. How long would he be able to pretend like he didn't hate her?

"I believe it's a few of the nurses that you have to apologize to. I know one is probably holding a grudge against you for it." He turned back to his book and turned another page, shifting in the chair so that he rested his elbow on the armrest and his cheek on his hand.

"Not just for the nurses." Kakashi had all the appearances of a dog with its ears perked up curiously, silently prompting her to continue. "I lied."

"Yes, it seems you did," he said slowly, closing his book and tucking it into the green vest.

Hana decided to test the waters. "You don't hate me for it?"

Again, Kakashi was smiling. Even though it hadn't been long since she remembered seeing someone smile so casually at her, it made her feel as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't lied, tracked down her brother and had her ass handed to her in a pathetic excuse for a fight.

"Nope."

"Why?" Hana demanded, realizing too late that her tone was more demanding than she had hoped for. Kakashi watched her face go red, seeming to analyze her and make her even more uncomfortable than she already was.

"I've met a lot of refugees. The last thing you need is another person judging you." Hana felt relieved by his words, then taken aback by his choice in them. She had never thought of herself as a refugee. A runaway, maybe, but that held more of a despicable characteristic.

Before she could ask anymore questions, the door creaked open and Hachiro beamed at her from the hallway. He hobbled into the room and grabbed one of the chairs beside Kakashi and dragging it across the floor to the other side of Hana's bed. The sound felt like nails on a chalkboard and her entire head erupted in a pounding ache.

"I asked one of the pretty nurses if I could visit, and was told to keep an eye on you," he said, his voice and eyes seeming to laugh even though he wasn't chuckling. "It seems you've acquired quite the reputation while you've been in here."

"Yeah, well," Hana trailed off, enjoying the immense relief that came with Hachiro's grin. One of the many thoughts that had passed through her head while she was feigning sleep was that Hachiro would never speak to her again. That had been one of the more realistic thoughts that had come to her, and she felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest, making it just a little bit easier to breath.

His smile faded almost instantly and his shoulders slouched. "I heard about Lee."

The weight slammed back onto Hana's chest tenfold. That was another thoughts that she had forced herself to push away; Granny Lee. Imaged of her bloodied shirt and lax expression made a lump form in her throat, and all she could do was hang her head and watch as the chain holding her wrist to the bed rail moved ever so slightly.

Pain flashed through Hana's head when the door flew open and slammed against the wall behind it. She felt herself hunching over automatically and grabbing her head with her free hand, the other one pulling at the chain to try and ease a bit of the unexpected pain.

"Who are you?" A voice asked. Hana glanced up to see Hachiro's mouth opening to respond, but whoever it was cut him off. "You need to leave right now. You can come back tomorrow during visiting hours."

The voice was feminine but harsh and demanding, and Hachiro was left with nothing to do but send Hana an apologetic look before scurrying out of the room with a quiet promise of coming back later.

"You," the woman addressed again, drawing up Hachiro's chair and sitting heavily in it. Hana finally chanced a glance at the woman. She looked familiar, though she couldn't say she had seen her often. The posture of the woman seemed to command respect, and Kakashi had even managed to slid his book back into his vest – though Hana couldn't remember his ever taking it back out in the first place. Hana had seen a picture of this woman in the paper before, and her felt floored that she was now sitting less than a foot away from the Hokage of Konoha.

The woman crossed her legs and gave Hana a withering stare – she didn't appear to be in the best of spirits.

"What's your name?" she questioned.

"Hana Inoue," Hana answered, her voice incredibly quiet and mousey compared to the Hokage's.

The woman raised an eyebrow and tapped a nail on the armrest of her chair. It wasn't enough to send Hana's head into a pounding ache but it was enough to catch her attention and draw it away from taking in the Hokage's appearance. She had seen the diamond dot on her forehead in a picture before, but had no idea if it was a mere decoration or if it held a purpose. The woman's eyes were much narrower than in the paper, though, holding all the suspicion that Hana had expected from Kakashi.

She felt herself shrink back from the woman, and Hana wanted nothing more than to throw the blanket over her head and feign sleep again – terrifying thoughts be damned.

"Where are you from?"

"Gonohe, not far south of Ame-"

"I know where Gonohe is," the Hokage interrupted impatiently, looking to a manilla file in her hands. She opened it and flipped to a page, then glanced up at Hana over the top.

"If you're from Gonohe, you wouldn't mind explaining this to me." The Hokage tossed the folder to Hana, who merely let it drop in her lap. It nearly slid off the bed, and Hana had to reach across with her un-chained had to grab it and pull it back to her.

Staring back at her was a picture of a small girl, and Hana's heart immediately began to race as she recognized it. She was looking at an old genin picture of herself, though many years younger. The person in the picture looked foreign to her. There was no hint of a smile on her face or in her eyes, and her entire appearance screamed emotionally dead. After the shock of seeing the photo left her, Hana finally read the words over the top: Missing Ninja.

"I-I," Hana stuttered, unsure of how to even begin explaining. She quickly read the fine print below the picture, stating when and where she had last been seen, her abilities, and where she was to be returned to. She was shocked to read that she had been considered exceptional in Taijutsu, then her ego fell just a bit when she read that her Genjutsu skills were 'nonexistent'.

"I have a dead civilian, a missing ninja in my hospital, and several injured nurses," the Hokage said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees and leveling Hana with a deadly serious look. "I need a damn good explanation as to why I shouldn't send you right back to Iwagakure."

At this, Kakashi calmly stood up and leaned over to read the file himself. The only indication that he was shocked was the slight widening of his visible eye, but she was sure if that had been her imagination or not. Hana racked her brain for something to say to him, that perhaps this wasn't what it looked like, he walked back to his chair and sat down.

"I'm waiting," the Hokage said. Hana turned to look at her but found that she couldn't hold the woman's gaze for very long. Her eyes dropped back to the old picture of her and her mouth went dry. The file in her lap was rather large. What other information besides her wanted picture did they have on her already? Was it even worth lying again?

"I'm from Iwagakure." Hana felt her voice waver and she was almost unable to finish her simple sentence. No one..._no one _had even been told the truth before.

"Clearly," the woman hissed, obviously irritated and angered by the entire situation.

"I had been a genin for six months, and my grandmother decided that it was no longer safe for us there. So we left. It isn't like we rebelled against them or attacked or anything," Hana added quickly, looking up in desperation for the woman to understand.

"Why did you leave?" the Hokage asked, her tone just a touch softer than before, though the change was barely noticeable.

Hana looked down at the file again. The tank top she was wearing showed her shoulders, with clear skin and unmarred. It had been taken shortly before the incident.

"My brother and I were abused by our father." Despite the fact that the topic was harder to talk about than simply where she was from, Hana felt her voice becoming a little more confident. "Me more so than him," she corrected. "My grandmother was furious when the doctors and Tsuchikage wouldn't do anything about it, and after he damaged by arms she decided that it would be safer for us to run than remain in the village."

Hana's eyes stayed glued to the old photo of herself, unable to look up to gauge the reactions of the two ninja in the room.

A deep breath from the woman beside her drew Hana's attention. The Hokage had sat back in her chair and was giving Hana a calculating look. "I won't lie to you, Hana. This looks bad." The cold metal around Hana's wrist made that point clearer. "There needs to be tests and interrogations before we can even think about releasing you, but I think it is safe to say that we won't send you back to Iwa just yet."

Hana let out a breath that she wasn't aware she had been holding. "Thank you."

The Hokage shook her head. "There will an interrogation tomorrow where some of our best ninja will comb through all the memories you have, looking for any possibility that you're still working with Iwa."

"And when they don't find that?" At this, the Hokage smiled briefly.

"We have a serious shortage of ninja in Konohagakure at the moment. If it's clear to us that you hold to loyalties to any other ninja village, I will speak with the elders about granting you access to train in this village."

"You mean, I could be a ninja here?"

"_If_ the elders agree. They will want to talk with you personally and I can't say they will be as lenient as I have been." Hana felt her shoulders slump a bit and she fiddled with a long strand of red hair that was on her blanket. It was true that the Hokage had been more than gracious in not shipping Hana back to Iwa the second she was put in the hospital, and Hana had heard rumors about the elders being stuck in their older ways. "If they will let you, then yes. You could train here as a ninja and we will test you to see what level your skills are at. But that will be a while from now. At the moment, just focus on not fighting the interrogators tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you," Hana said when the Hokage stood and turned to the door, feeling like it definitely wasn't enough to show how much everything the woman had just said meant to her. Not only could she be free to wander the village, she could train! Train with other ninja and not have to worry day in and day out about being found.

With her hand on the doorknob, the Hokage turned to speak over her shoulder. "Oh, and for security measures, we will need a guard here with you twenty-four-seven. It's partially for your protection too, Hana," she said when Hana's mouth fell open in shock. She needed a guard? The room that had been a regular hospital room a moment ago sudden grew bars and became a prison right before her eyes. "Kakashi, you take first watch. I'll send someone in to relieve you in a few hours."

"Of course," Kakashi muttered, his nose still deep in the orange book as he gave the woman a lazy salute just before she closed the door behind her.

* * *

Granted, Hana had never been interrogated as an adult before, but this wasn't what she was expecting. During the last day at the hospital her thoughts ran rampant again, and images of torture chambers and angry, scarred men flashed through her dreams.

This, though, was not what Hana thought would happen. Early in the morning, a man had come in to relieve the current guard sitting by the door. She couldn't say she was sorry to see that particular guard leave, as he had been sending nothing but cold, icy glares her way whenever she jolted awake in the middle of the night. This man was smaller, with softer green eyes and a genuine smile on his face as he pulled the previous guard's chair up to the side of her bed.

"I'm Inoichi Yamanaka, and I've been ordered to interrogate you." Despite how serious the words were, the man spoke them gently. "Are you feeling well enough to answer questions?"

Hana wasn't sure that the interrogation would be postponed if she said no, so she merely nodded.

"Great. I have a list of questions here," he tapped a bulky manila folder in his hand, "and we will have to go through all of them. I've been a trained interrogator here in Konoha for over twenty years, and will know if you are lying." He paused, as if waiting for Hana to comment, and the gentleness of his voice dropped. "This isn't the full interrogation, though. After this Ibiki Morino will enter your thoughts and comb through your memories for any signs of loyalty to another village. But, that's likely to be tomorrow," he added, his voice hopping back up to the kind and gentle tone it had been before.

"Okay," Hana muttered, slowly pulling herself up into a sitting position.

"Are you ready to begin?" Inoichi asked, flipping the folder open and bringing a pen out of his vest.

"Yes." Hana held her breath, waiting for the first question. _What kind would they ask? And how many could they possibly ask that would fill up that entire folder? _Hana wondered, eying the bulky thing in Inoichi's hand.

"Okay. First question," Inoichi skimmed the file and kept his pen positioned right over the paper, looking up at Hana with a kind smile on his face. "Are you aware of any attacks that Iwagakure or any Iwagakure ninja have on Konoha?"

Hana blinked at him dumbly. "Um, no."

He made a few marks on the paper and Hana wanted to crane her neck to see what he had written down. Did he think she was lying? She did pause, but she was just caught off guard!

"Are you affiliated with the Iwa missing civilian named Lee Inoue?" Hana felt her throat close up at the name. He said it so casually and looked up at Hana expectantly when she didn't answer right away.

"Y-yes," Hana stuttered, shifting her hair so that it hung over one shoulder and so that she could do something other than look at Inoichi scribbling marks on the file.

"How were you related to her?" _Were_. The word made it even harder to fight the lump in her throat. Not _are_, _were_.

"I... was her granddaughter."

"Biological?"

"Yes." This response warranted a 'hmm' and nearly a minute of Inoichi's pen scratching on the paper. Hana sighed and leaned back into the wall behind her bed. This was going to be a long day.


	10. Cuffs and Prison Garb

**AN: You may hate me. I know, I have it coming. I won't waste your time with excuses (even if I have them) and why I haven't been able to finish this chapter up. More time shall not be wasted. Read!**

* * *

**Flower Girl**

* * *

_Cuffs and Prison Garb  
_

* * *

Hana jolted awake, reflexes telling her to kick and flail at whoever was grabbing her shoulder. Whatever had a grip on her tightened their hold and words that had meant absolutely nothing except for a disorienting static a moment ago was suddenly crystal clear.

"Calm down, Inoue." The voice was deep and rough, and when Hana's eyes snapped open she wished that she had kept them shut. A frowning red and white mask stared down at her from above, blocking the fluorescent light and casting a halo around the nightmarish bird mask.

"Get off!" Hana screeched, lashing out at the painted mask to find that one of her wrists was still chained to the bed rail. The man finally stepped back after slapping her hand away with embarrassing ease and stepped around to the other side of the bed. She watched warily as the man grabbed a key from his pocket at made to grab her wrist. Hana moved away sharply and the man paused, mask angled towards her.

"I need to unchain you before you can be taken to interrogation." His voice was cool and calm, and his gloved hand was held out to her. He waited only a moment before grabbing her wrist anyway and quickly unlocking the cuff. "Get up, you're already late."

The man stepped back and stood with his hands held behind his back. Hana pulled herself to the side of the bed and let her legs dangle over the side, hastily rubbing her eyes. Her toes slid against the cold tiles and she glanced around the room, still tired and dizzy from being so suddenly awoken. She glanced down at the white hospital gown and felt a slight draft on her back.

"Do I get to wear clothes?" Hana asked, following the man's inclined head to the bedside table. A shirt and pair of pants were folded beside the lamp and Hana hopped off the bed and grabbed the clothes. They definitely weren't hers, she could tell that much just by picking them up and inspecting the rough gray material.

Side-stepping around the center of the room and keeping her back pointedly to the wall to avoid anything embarrassing, Hana stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.

"We need to leave soon. Hurry." Hana put the toilet seat down and set the clothes on it, grabbing the shirt and unfolding it.

_Great. This has to be three sizes too big,_ Hana thought, smoothing down the hem that reached mid-thigh on her. The pants were equally as big, but she quickly rolled up the bottoms and tied the waist so they wouldn't slide off. The Hokage had said that she wouldn't be a prisoner if the interrogations went well, but nothing made Hana feel more like a prisoner than the rough gray clothes.

_All I'm missing is the stripes and prisoner numbers. _Hana's melancholy thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the bathroom door.

"Are you dressed?"

"Yeah," Hana muttered, dropping the hospital gown in the small hamper in the corner and opened the door.

"Come on," the masked man said, all but tapping his foot on the ground. He stepped to the side and motioned for Hana to follow. "We're late, so we'll need to hurry. Keep up," the man said, his head turned to the side which only seemed to emphasize the beak.

As if it wasn't enough that the man was much taller than her, he took long strides, forcing Hana to nearly jog behind him to keep up. A clock hanging from the ceiling told her it was early in the morning, which was probably why the hallways were fairly empty and the air was colder than usual. A nurse that had entered the hallway ahead of them seemed to notice the two rushing towards her and she leaped back. Hana briefly wondered if that was the nurse who had been knocked out in the "sedation incident".

"Where are we going?" Hana asked, dodging around a man in scrubs moping the floor and jogging to catch up to the masked man.

"Interrogation room number four," the man said elusively, speaking only loud enough for Hana to hear.

"And where's that?"

"Interrogation chambers." Hana rolled her eyes and stopped herself from asking anymore questions, knowing that she wouldn't get the answers she wanted. Instead, she followed behind the man as he navigated around the hospital hallways and to a narrow stairwell. The masked-man took the steps two at a time, forcing Hana to do the same as they descended.

At each floor, they passed a single door with a sign over the top to indicate the floor they were on. After passing the ground level, Hana paused to watch the tall man continue down the staircase.

With each floor they passed the floor under Hana's bare feet became colder and colder and the air held an eerie chill. Just when Hana's legs were beginning to burn, the masked-man stopped at a door, and like the last five floors there was no sign over the top. He opened the door and held it open for Hana, but the kind gesture ended abruptly when he brushed past her and moved down the hallway.

"Here," the man said, stopping at one of the doors so abruptly that Hana almost ran into him. She looked at the door, the exact same shade of gray as the walls and floor around it, and noticed that there was no indication of which room it was. The masked-man nodded sharply to the door and after a moments hesitation, Hana opened it.

A gust of hot air swept by them, and after a final nod the bird-masked man continued on down the hallway.

"Come in." The voice was just as gravelly as the previous man's had been, but was much deeper and sent her stomach into an uneasy somersault. "You're late."

This was what Hana was expecting when she entertained the thought of interrogation. A large, scarred man sitting at a metal table in a gray room. The baggy gray clothes she was wearing just added to the intimidation.

Hesitantly, Hana shut the door behind her and sat across the small table from the large man. A folder lay open in front of him, but the writing was too small and messy for Hana to make any of it out.

"Have you been informed about what this interrogation will entail?"

"Sort of." He raised an eyebrow, prompting Hana to explain more. "I know you have to look through my memories and thoughts."

He nodded and closed the folder before him and slid it to the edge of the table. He sat up even straighter in his chair, making it clearer that he would easily tower over her if she had any doubts before.

"Basically, yes. That's what I'll do. I have a jutsu that will allow me access to your mind, but if you attempt to hide or keep anything from me I will know about it immediately." The frown on the man's face was bisected by a large scar, and his scolding tone wiped away any ideas of hiding information from the intimidating man.

* * *

-O-

* * *

This was the first time that Hana had found herself sitting across from the Hokage, and it was even more intimidating than when the woman had rushed into her hospital room and demanded answers. She wasn't outwardly angry, like before, and instead the woman was calmly flipping through a few files on her desk. The Hokage had apparently forgotten that Shizune had pushed Hana into her office and that she had motioned for her to sit down.

Hana fiddled while she watched the pages flip slowly by, and when she was tired of pulling at a lose string on her bandages, she moved to pick at the split ends on her hair.

"I've just received the files from your interrogation with Ibiki Morino, so you'll have to wait until I've completely read through it before I can give you my assessment," she spoke slowly, shifting forward to rest her cheek on her fist; whatever she was reading clearly wasn't interesting. Hana immediately stopped fiddling and watched quietly until the Hokage had finished the last page and shoved the folder to the side. "Done," she whispered, finally turning to look at Hana who was now perplexed at the woman before her. Had the Hokage she met before been an imposter? Or was the one sitting before her not the woman who had barged into her room like an angry bull on a mission?

"What did they tell you?" Hana asked after a moment had passed.

"That there's a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that you're exactly who you say you are, and that you hold no ties or loyalties to Iwagakure." The feeling of relief flooding Hana's veins was becoming something of an ordinary occurrence. "There may be another small interrogation with Ibiki later on, but it shouldn't be nearly as thorough as this one," she said, pulling the stack of files to the center of her desk and flipping through the top one. "Ibiki also recovered information on your previous training and skills, and I'd like to pass this information on to the person who will be training you. After you get a final check from one of our medics, you'll be free to go home. You have to arrange the details of your training between the two of you, though."

Hana had expected to bounce back to full health in no time, but her muscles still ached when she climbed the many stairs to the top of the Hokage tower and her shoulder felt sore whenever it was stretched.

"Of course, Hokage-sama," Hana said with a slight bow of her head. The idea that information about her was being passed around didn't set all that well with her, but she quickly decided that she wasn't in a position to be making her own demands.

"Tsunade. None of that 'Hokage-sama' business," she added when Hana gave her a questioning look.

"Okay."

"Here," Tsunade stretched out an arm to pass a much smaller folder to her. "Your temporary trainer is out in the hallway, make sure he gets that." She pulled a large book out from under her desk and grabbed a pen, making it clear that their small meeting was over when she hunched over her desk and gave Hana's retreating figure a dismissing flick of her wrist.

Hana's fingers itched to open the file and read it, but the 'confidential information' sticker on the front made her pause as she left the room. Maybe she could sneak a peak before she met her trainer, Hana thought with a mischievous grin. Hana had barely taken a step forward when she collided with something large, rock hard, and obnoxiously green.

"Oh gods, no," Hana muttered, realizing exactly who was standing in the hallway waiting for her.

"My precious flower!" Arms wrapped around Hana's shoulders in a crushing hug and hoisted her off the floor. The folder in her hands had dropped and over the sound of the Green Beast of Konoha's babbling of flowers and joy, she could hear the papers scattering around their feet.


	11. Volunteer Work and Comfort

**Flower Girl**

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_Volunteer Work and Comfort  
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Hana finally felt her feet touch the ground, but Gai's crushing hug still pinned her arms by her side and made it difficult to breath.

"I'm, uh, glad you're okay too, Gai," Hana said awkwardly, unsure of what to say after being hugged for several minutes flat. The itchy gray material had been pressed against her skin and made her arms itchy, and she was relieved when, inch by inch, Gai's arms retracted and Hana was left to give him smile. She only hesitated slightly when she noticed that he had been crying.

Hana had expected some form of distrust from Kakashi, but she hadn't even given the thought that Gai would turn his back on her a second thought. The (sometimes obnoxiously) loyal man beamed back at her and took a step back, making it clear that they were not the only ones in the hallway. A man with dark glasses and a bandana covering his hair stood halfway behind Gai, adjusting his glasses and examining Hana with a frown that made her want to jump to the side so he would be completely hidden by Gai (whose tears had now lessened into a steady stream).

Just as Hana made to move in front of Gai again, the man stepped around the Green Beast in stiff, controlled steps. A hand was thrust in front of Hana and she hastily shook it.

"Ebisu," he introduced. "I've been ordered by the Hokage of Konohagakure to assess your abilities as a ninja and train you for the time being." Hana pulled her hand away and had to let the information sit for a moment. Something about him screamed stiff obedience, and it awkwardly made Hana want to straighten her back and square her shoulders.

"Hana," she answered, glancing down a the mess of papers that she was supposed to give him. "Tsunade told me to give you these. They're notes on my previous training and skills." Hana stooped down to gather up the papers and was immediately joined by an enthusiastic Gai. Hana tilted her head to the side just enough to see Ebisu crossing his arms and giving her a critical once over. At least she didn't have to worry about him being as annoyingly gentlemanly as the man currently helping her gather papers, but she wasn't sure that that was necessarily a good thing.

When the papers were finally in order, though a couple where wrinkled and dog-eared, Hana handed the file over to Ebisu. He shifted his glasses and read the cover, speaking without looking at either Hana or Gai. "We'll meet up in two days at training ground three, seven o'clock, if you pass your medical examination." Ebisu turned sharply and walked away. Calling over his shoulder as he flipped the file open in his hands, "We'll begin with assessing your skills." The words 'seven o'clock' still hung in the air as Hana tried to process the rest of what her future-sensei had said.

"Seven?" Hana tried to keep her screech as quiet as possible, turning with an outraged cry to Gai. He gave a nervous laugh and shrugged.

"Ebisu is a morning person," Gai said with a comforting smile.

"Seven?! I can't believe that!" Hana was just barely able to suppress the urge to stomp her foot and stick out her bottom lip, but she did cross her arms and turn her back on the hallway that Ebisu had walked down.

"Perhaps you'd like to have some lunch to get your mind off of it?" Gai tried with a hopeful smile. Hana huffed and glanced back down the hallway at the back of who was sure to be her new nemesis. Her mind was still screaming 'seven o'clock' in rage.

"I think I just want to change and make something at home." Hana turned to look at the two paths she could walk down and realized that she wasn't sure how to get out of the Hokage's office.

"This way," Gai threw out his hand dramatically to their left and beamed when Hana began walking down that hallway. "I'll ensure you arrive home safely, my flower."

Hana smiled politely at Gai, honestly touched by the small gesture.

If seeing a barefoot, bandaged girl being escorted down the street by Gai didn't gain people's attention, then the near-prison-like (and damn itchy) clothes that Hana was still wearing sure did the trick. By the time they had left the Hokage Tower, though, Hana couldn't bring herself to blush in embarrassment or avert her eyes at the stares. She was tired, and after the interrogation she was left feeling exposed and a little violated, even if all the information Ibiki had gleaned off of her was confidential.

She merely walked beside Gai, enjoying the small amount of comfort that his - silent - presence brought her. Her feet were freezing and she was constantly having to scratch her arms and shoulders, only irritated a bit by the bandages that covered her arms. But she was going home. The thought didn't strike fear into her like she thought it would in the hospital, and it didn't make her feel like she wanted to collapse in the middle of the street and cry. She was still a little numbed by everything that had happened, and was waiting for it to hit her like a ton of bricks.

Turning down the familiar street, though, Hana's eyes fixed on the sign that her and Granny Lee had painted weeks before opening up the flower shop. Her feet stopped walking of their own accord and she turned to give Gai a polite smile.

"Thanks for walking me, Gai. But I think I can make it from here." Gai seemed pleased by this and bid Hana a goodnight that was a little less dramatic than normal, but still left her standing with red cheeks and rolling her eyes. Her smile fell just a bit when she turned to look at the flower shop again.

The curtains had been drawn - Hana wondered who had done that. Had anyone been inside the flower shop? Had it been cleaned, or was there still blood on the walls and floor? The small smear of blood that Hana briefly recalled being left on the front door by her own hand was gone. Whoever had cleaned that had probably cleaned inside as well. Was it someone she knew? Hana could only think of two people who knew about the incident and would have cared enough to take time out of their day to help her, and one of them had just walked away.

Hana shuddered at the thought of having to clean the flower shop herself, and folded her arms and turned away from the Inoue Flower Shop. She turned the corner to go to the entrance to the house instead, intent on making tea, closing the door that would lead to the flower shop for good and go to sleep.

But her heart leaped up and into her throat when she saw that the light in her kitchen was on. Her mind immediately jumped to another invasion, but this time there was nobody there to murder, and nothing of incredible importance to take. Slowly, her rapidly beating heart seemed to find it's place in her chest again.

After a shaky breath, Hana continued up the pathway through the overgrown garden and unlocked the door. She paused, having a hesitant second thought before deciding to just go in and confront whoever thought it would be funny to break into her house. The door squeaked just a tiny bit as she opened it and closed it behind her.

A pair of sandals, several sides larger than any of Hana's own sat beside hers in the front entrance. She slipped hers off as well and nudged them into the line of shoes.

"Hello?" Hana called out, looking into the kitchen to see that a pot of tea was on the stove and a small stream of steam was already pouring out of the kettle.

"In here." A wave of familiar chakra hit Hana hard, but it didn't feel like it was knocking her off her feet. Instead, like the voice, it put a halt to the fears of another home invasion and the hairs on the back of her neck relaxed. Hana walked into the living room, where she knew the voice was coming from.

His feet were up on the coffee table and a dirty orange book was in his hand. Kakashi tilted his head to the side and pleasantly greeted Hana.

"Hi," Hana took another step into the room, unsure of how to confront him about this. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Volunteering," Kakashi offered vaguely, throwing an arm over the back of the couch and sinking further into the cushions. For all that Kakashi was compared to his dog familiars, he represented a relaxing cat, obviously satisfied with some brilliant plan.

"Volunteering?" Hana asked with a raised eyebrow. "For what. As a body guard?" It came out as a laugh but Kakashi lowered his book at gave her a very serious look.

"It's for your own protection. More of a precaution, really." The curved-eyed smile broke his serious-facade.

"Ah, of course." A gust of chilly air shifted the baggy clothes Hana was wearing, and she turned to see that the window in the kitchen had been left open. She moved into the kitchen to close it. "Next time you break in, make sure you shut the window, please." Hana secured the latch and turned to lean against the counter in time to see Kakashi send her a mock salute over his shoulder. She wasn't sure if she had just invited him to break into her house again or not, but when Kakashi didn't seize the chance to tease her about it she left the thought alone.

She expected the house to feel empty and cold, and had even thought about moving the moment she woke up the next day, but aside from the gust of wind brought in through the open window, the house didn't feel like it was cold. Her eyes roamed the kitchen and living room, and everything appeared to be untouched aside from something on the fridge. The picture of Granny Lee holding Hana as a baby was among a few other pictures that they had taken with them, and it was just slightly off center - Kakashi had done some light snooping while waiting for her. But the photo didn't mock Hana, and the fact that someone else had looked at something that was a precious and private thing to her didn't bother her. It didn't make her feel like she wanted to run again or start over for the umpteenth time in her life.

Gai's kind gesture of walking her most of the way home and Kakashi inviting himself in and starting up tea did anything but infuriate her, as it surely would have months ago.

The kettle on the stove finally began to shriek and Hana pulled it off the stove and turned it off. "Tea?" An affirmative grunt made Hana smile, even just a little bit as she grabbed two cups from the cupboard.

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**AN: School is officially over. For a long time. Meaning that I won't be cramming for exams or doing anything other than worrying about what I'm getting my family for Christmas. That means (hopefully) more consistent updates.**

**Anyway, reviews are always loved (and I try to get back to everyone, even just to say thanks). This feel-good ending felt kind of nice to write, especially after all the drama that I put poor Hana through. It is not the end, though. There is plenty to come!  
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